JEFFERSON COUNTY, Mo. — Students and staff in the Fox C-6 School District will no longer be required to wear masks inside school buildings beginning Friday.
Superintendent Paul Fregeau made the announcement Wednesday in a letter to families. Fregeau said the district made the decision to lift the mask mandate due to updated COVID-19 numbers across Jefferson County.
The Jefferson County Health Department announced earlier this week that the COVID positivity rate dropped into the yellow level of the county’s COVID Color Guidance Indicator. Masks are required in schools when the county is in the red or orange level.
The district said while masks aren’t required, they are still recommended.
Although the mask mandate is lifted inside school buildings, face coverings will still be required when riding school buses, per federal guidelines.
Jefferson County Health Department Spokesperson Brianne Zwiener clarified that the number that slipped to the “yellow zone” is positivity rates, and analysts believe that decrease could be due to an increase in at-home COVID-19 testing.
But one thing she knows for sure: when it comes to new cases per 100,000 people, Jefferson County is still at "high."
“We're still seeing that red level of transmission, as far as our cases within the county so the Jefferson County is still in red status,” she said.
Asked again simply if the county did move to yellow status: “We are in the red.”
A 5 On Your Side viewer and mother of a Fox fifth-grader told us off-camera that this move shows “blatant disregard” for the standards the district and board set, calling it a “slap in the face” to those who cannot vaccinate their kids yet or with high-risk family members.
The “red” status and the ability for masked students to more safely attend in-person school are two reasons why Zwiener said they continue to recommend masking in classrooms.
“The CDC says that in a high level of transmission like a red status all prevention measures should be utilized to the best of their ability, which includes wearing masks, washing hands, getting vaccinated if possible,” Zwiener said, “and seeing as we're in the red status in this community, we continue to push those measures as well.”
In the same report, the health department notes 82 new youth cases this week. That’s the first time this number has been in double digits since mid-July.
Earlier this month, the Fort Zumwalt School District voted to lift its mask mandate. The City of St. Charles School District made masks optional for high school students, while younger students are still required to wear them.
Also this month, the Francis Howell School District voted to extend its mask mandate for students pre-K through sixth grade. Wearing a mask is optional from seventh through 12th grades.