Two days after St. Paul’s school board voted to lift its mask mandate, Minneapolis has followed suit.
Students, staff and visitors at Minneapolis Public Schools will now no longer be required to wear a face covering at any schools and buildings, including transportation. In an announcement Thursday, the district cited the city’s declining COVID-19 rates and new CDC framework as reasoning for the shift.
“MPS remains committed to maximizing in-person learning, meeting the academic and mental health needs of our students, and providing a safe learning environment for all,” Superintendent Ed Graff said in a statement.
The school has also changed its policies around contact tracing and quarantine lengths. The district will discontinue its universal contact tracing, meaning families will not necessarily receive notice if someone in their student’s class, athletics team, bus or other extracurricular activity has tested positive for COVID-19.
There will also be no quarantine period for fully vaccinated students and/or boosted adults exposed to COVID-19. The quarantine period for unvaccinated or partially vaccinated students/adults exposed to COVID-19 will change to 5 days (from 10 days) with qualifiers per public health guidelines with masks required for Days 6-10. The isolation period for adults and students who tested positive for COVID-19 remains at 10 days.
On Wednesday, the St. Paul Public School Board voted 6-1 in favor of repealing the system’s mask mandate as long as the risk of in-school spread remained low. It’s the first time in more than two years that masks will not be required in the schools.
