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Oakland County health officials issued an emergency health order on Tuesday requiring masks for students and staff in all kindergartens and public schools from Kindergarten to Grade 12 regardless of status vaccine.
The Oakland County Health Division issued the order that impacts approximately 210,000 students in 28 public school districts and 22 charter school academies.
The decree also applies to day-care centers and vocational schools.
“Our top priority is keeping students in school for in-person learning,” said Dave Coulter, Oakland County Principal. “Masking is one of the best defenses against increased transmission of COVID and higher rates of hospitalization in children. This order allows teachers to get back to educating our students and focus on their success.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says Oakland County has a substantial risk of transmitting COVID-19, especially the delta variant.
Of the 2,740 new cases of COVID-19 in Oakland County from August 4 to 17, more than one in six were school-aged children, county officials said.
More than 52,000 Oakland County residents aged 12 to 19 remain unvaccinated as of the start of the 2021-2022 school year. Students under the age of 12 are not eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
The warrant will remain in place until the county is at a moderate level of transmission for COVID-19, officials said. Oakland County is currently in a significant mode of transmission, according to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Of the 28 local districts in Oakland County, nine have already implemented mask warrants, nine have announced optional mask policies and 10 districts were undetermined.
Steve Matthews, superintendent of community schools in Novi, who recommended masks but did not demand them, said he welcomed the decision by county health officials.
“It’s a very positive thing that Oakland County Health has stepped up and released this,” said Matthews, who confirmed the pending announcement to The News. “They were putting superintendents in a position to justify why or not they were issuing a warrant in their district and superintendents shouldn’t be involved in that decision – it’s a health service issue.”
Matthews said that while his community was divided on the issue, with some families wanting a term and others wanting the freedom to choose, “Now this is helping us move forward.”
Gerard Hill, superintendent of schools for West Bloomfield, said the county’s decision provides the support local districts need to protect students and school staff.
“I think it’s great news that the Oakland County Health Department is stepping up and doing their job. And I commend them for that,” said Hill, who also confirmed that the announcement will be made more. late Tuesday.
Hill said his district decided Monday night to approve a mask mandate for students and staff. The board had unanimously approved the back-to-school policy on Monday.
“I think we all need to take a step back and realize that we are in a much better position this year than last year. We offer full days, five days a week in person,” said Hill. “Masking is an essential strategy to maintain this. Without masking, we would regularly close schools. With masking, we can overcome that.”
After declaring itself an optional mask district at the end of July, public schools in Troy instituted a mask mandate on Friday citing a significant increase in the number of COVID-19 cases and the spread in the community since its previous decision.
School officials said on Friday they had continuously examined COVID-19 data in the region leading up to the start of the school year on August 31.
“Unfortunately, the trend in our area is not what we expected, with the number of cases and the spread in the community increasing dramatically since we announced back-to-school plans a month ago,” he said. Superintendent Troy Rich Machesky said in an email to families.
“It is very important that we not only start the school year with in-person learning, but that we can keep students in our classrooms without interruptions,” Machesky said.
Decisions on whether Michigan’s 1.4 million students in K-12 schools will be required to wear masks in classrooms and on school campuses this new school year are being made locally statewide. by superintendents and elected school boards.
Some Michigan counties have issued mask warrants, including Genesee, Kalamazoo, Allegan, Kent and Ottawa counties. Some have rules that only apply to certain age groups, such as Genesee County, which requires masks for kindergarten to grade 6 students.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer defended her decision to waive a statewide student mask mandate on Monday, saying Michigan finds itself in very different circumstances from last year, when executive orders were one of the only options available to protect people.
Nearly 35% of Michigan students are in districts that have already implemented mask requirements, she said, adding that she hoped other schools would adopt similar guidelines.
Last week, Chief Medical Director Dr Joneigh Khaldun told reporters she had informed Whitmer that a statewide mask requirement for students would help mitigate the spread of COVID- 19.
The state has recommended schools require masks for students, but has not imposed the measure as cases and state hospitalizations increase. The number of COVID-19 hospitalizations and new infections in Michigan has been on the rise for the past month.
The Michigan Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that all people over the age of 2 wear face masks in schools this fall, regardless of their immunization status.
Michigan Republicans lobbied against mask requirements in schools this fall despite recommendations from public health experts that the policies will help fight the spread of COVID-19.
Transmission of COVID-19 is high enough in all but two of Michigan’s 83 counties that an overwhelming majority of Michigan residents should wear masks in public according to federal guidelines, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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