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Eanes ISD has announced that from November 10th, masks will no longer be required. (Courtesy Eanes ISD)
Eane’s ISD updated its mask policy on Nov. 10 to make masks optional for students and staff when they are not in the presence of students under the age of 12, according to a school press release with immediate effect.
Elementary school students must continue to wear masks either until Austin Public Health announces the county is in Phase 2 or after Thanksgiving break at the earliest. The district is hoping to return from Thanksgiving hiatus with optional mask status for people of all ages.
“We have had vaccines for children 12 and older for a long time, so we are very comfortable in secondary school making masks optional,” said Superintendent Tom Leonard. “Right now, I don’t expect this to happen before Thanksgiving break because we want to give some time to the process for parents who want to vaccinate their children between the ages of 5 and 11.”
EISD has three active COVID-19 cases, two teachers and one student, according to the EISD COVID-19 dashboard. As of Aug. 18, the district had 208 positive student cases and 42 positive employee cases, the dashboard said.
Travis County is in phase 3 under risk-based COVID-19 guidelines, and according to the district, Travis County and APH’s re-evaluation of the threshold for entry into phase 2 by Travis County and APH has extended the mask mandate despite declining positive cases in EISD. The district said it will continue to gradually ease restrictions in schools after recently also easing restrictions on campus visiting and large gatherings in October.
“We are grateful to the community and their patience as we traversed stages 5, 4 and 3,” said Leonard. “We know this has been tough for everyone but we are really confident that we are going in the right direction.”
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to clarify the mask mandate schedules for ages 5-11 and to include comments from Eane’s ISD Superintendent Tom Leonard.
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https://communityimpact.com/austin/lake-travis-westlake/education/2021/11/10/eanes-isd-lifts-mask-mandate-for-age-12-and-older/
