The Cudahy School District Board voted 6 to 1 to require masks in schools this fall for all students and staff.
The swift shift came just a month after the district voted to make masks optional. But Monday night, the board decided to align their policy with CDC recommendations.
District Superintendent, Dr. Tina Owen-Moore, believes that based on expert opinions, students and staff should go back to masking indoors along with standard mitigation efforts.
"More recently with the new recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the CDC, we’ve recognized that this is a time where we need to bring this back before the board," said Dr. Owen-Moore.
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The meeting was filled with mixed opinions, with parents sharing their personal beliefs based off of how their kids have adapted to pandemic learning environments.
One parent shared his concerns to the board, saying "I don’t think it's good for the kids to be walking around masked. They’re not showing their faces, they’re not reading faces, the socialization part of it is being taken away."
However, Dr. Owen-Moore's goal is keeping students in school and with that, she believes masks should be required.
"Last school year, our staff and students did a phenomenal job of wearing masks all year and keeping our schools open for the entire school year. We know it works," said Dr. Owen-Moore.
The board can revisit this decision in November to consider an optional mask policy.