MN Safe Learning plan remains until end of school year, face coverings required indoors during school day
(05/21/2021) The CDC guidance for schools continues to recommend that school staff and students wear face coverings in school buildings and on school buses for the remainder of the school year and the State of Minnesota, through the MN Safe Learning Plan, has also required this for all public schools during the instructional day. Students and staff are able to remove face coverings outdoors.
Masking requirements do not apply during after school activities, such as sports or other extracurriculars. With this in mind, indoor activity participants and spectators outside the school day are still recommended to wear a mask unless vaccinated, but masking during these optional activities is no longer a requirement.
Students enrolled in Adventures Plus before- and after-school child care will continue wearing face coverings in alignment with Minnesota Department of Health guidelines.
The CDC cites the following reasons for continuing to wear face coverings in schools:
- Students will not be fully vaccinated by the end of the 2020-21 school year. Youth under the age of 12 are not yet eligible for vaccination. Youth between the ages of 12 and 15 became eligible for vaccination on May 12, 2021. Because people are not fully vaccinated until 2 weeks after their second dose of the Pfizer vaccine, students in this age group will not be fully vaccinated before the end of current school year.
- The time needed for schools to make systems and policy adjustments. Systems and policy adjustments may be required for schools to change mask requirements for students and staff while continuing to ensure the safety of unvaccinated populations.
The CDC and MN Safe Learning Plan are expected to update guidance for schools in the coming weeks to inform planning for summer school and the 2021-22 school year.