Masks will become optional in Tucson Unified School District on March 28 if COVID transmission rates remain medium to low.
The TUSD Governing Board voted 4-1 Tuesday to end the district’s current mask mandate, adopting in its place a guidance chart for administrators to follow, based on community COVID-19 rates.
“It would be executed by administration as a policy, so that there wouldn’t need to be any additional board action,” said TUSD general counsel Robert Ross. “We would just look at that dashboard and make the adjustments based on what community COVID level the county designates.”
If Pima County is classified as having a high transmission rate, TUSD administrators are to implement mask mandates for all indoor activities and large outdoor events.
But under medium or low transmission rates, masks would be optional in most circumstances. The county’s rate is currently medium.
Citing previous trends in which COVID-19 cases spiked after vacation breaks, Governing Board members Natalie Luna Rose and Adelita Grijalva said they felt comfortable setting the date for March 28, one week after spring break ends, to see if cases increase.
Board member Sadie Shaw voted against any changes to the mask policy.
“I really believe that we will be doing a disservice to our district and the Tucson community at large if we change our mask policy at this point,” Shaw said.
Also in response to the declining COVID cases, the Governing Board voted unanimously to open its meetings to in-person attendance by the public starting March 22.
The meetings will still be livestreamed via Zoom, but with a different format than now used.
Community members will then be able to participate in person during calls to the audience, but that option will no longer be available online.
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