Naperville School District 203 has suspended its policy requiring masks be worn inside its buildings.
In place since August, the rule change was recommended based on the decline in COVID-19 infections and on guidance from health agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Superintendent Dan Bridges told the School Board Monday.
“So, feeling very comfortable, feeling very good we’re in a good place right now … I’m confident that we can continue to move forward to align with CDC guidance from this point forward,” Bridges said.
Board members unanimously approved the measure.
The district’s policies mandated that anyone inside a district building must wear a face covering and established rules as to when masks could be removed and consequences for violating the provision.
That said, masks are still strongly recommended at District 203 schools, but not required. The district shifted to a masks-optional approach for students in February.
COVID monitoring efforts will focus on buildings individually rather than on a districtwide level, Bridges said. Transmission trends will be tracked in classrooms, grades and school programs as well as at hospitals and in communities and ZIP codes, he said.
“We’ll continue to monitor the indicators and update our (COVID-19) dashboard weekly and provide updates here at the board of education meetings and continue to consider any individual mitigations or targeted mitigations that we would need based on individual circumstances,” Bridges said.
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Board member Donna Wandke applauded changes made to the district’s COVID dashboard.
“I love that we’ve included not just the cases-per-1,000 and the positive rate (on the updated dashboard data) but also looking at the hospitalizations,” she said. “I especially appreciate the school-by-school number of cases so that people are aware and take precautions in and of themselves.”
Board member Charles Cush agreed, saying “I appreciate the fact we’ve added an additional layer of transparency for the community. Not only are we reporting what the data is but we’re reporting as to what that means.”
The CDC has changed its recommendation that school districts do universal contact tracing for positive coronavirus cases. Assistan Superintendent of Student Services Lisa Xagas said they will still identify and notify close contacts of COVID-positive individuals.
One policy that will remain in place is that students who test positive for COVID go into isolation for five days, Xagas said.