FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Students, teachers and staff in all Fulton County Schools can now decide whether or not they want to wear a mask.
The school district announced last week that they would be moving to a mask-optional model starting this week.
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Officially, masks became optional inside the buildings over the weekend, but Monday marks the first day students and staff alike will be in the buildings with the updated policy in place. Face-to-face instruction resumed for Fulton County Schools last week.
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The district said there are a number of reasons behind the decision, including reportedly milder cases with the omicron variant, children getting vaccinated and more home tests becoming available.
Channel 2′s Michelle Newell spoke with parents who have different opinions on the change of protocol.
“My son just got over COVID. He was fully vaccinated I just think it’s a smart thing to do to keep them wearing them,” Travis Wright said.
“I don’t want my kids to wear masks,” Anita Brown said. “I have a son in speech therapy. So if he’s going to receive a treatment, how will he see a teacher talk to him he needs to see a lip movement?”
In addition to masks being optional, the district announced they intend to only begin contact tracing for positive cases. Families can use the parent portal for reporting cases if a child tests positive.
The school district is still encouraging everyone to get vaccinated and not to come to the school if they are sick.
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