NEWTON COUNTY, Ga. — Newton County School System (NCSS) will no longer mandate masks beginning Monday, Nov. 8 the superintendent announced Saturday.
Superintendent Samantha Fuhrey said the district will lift the mask mandate implemented on Aug. 9. but masks will still be strongly encouraged.
Fuhrey cited the drop in COVID cases as the primary reason.
“It was stated, at the time the mandate was instituted, that it would be temporary and correlate directly to our community conditions,” said Fuhrey. “After continuous review of the COVID-19 data and consulting with our local medical professionals and advising the school board on their feedback, beginning Monday, November 8th, masks will be strongly recommended for all students and staff.”
In the most recent NCSS report, Fuhrey said, the district only had 12 new student COVID-19 cases and four new staff cases. Overall, 36 students and two staff members were quarantined as a precaution.
“While we are loosening our mask requirement, it continues to be important that students and staff wash their hands, use hand sanitizer, and watch their distance as an integral part of our layered prevention strategy,” Fuhrey explained.
Although the mask mandate is lifted, for now, Fuhrey warned that she would not hesitate to bring it back if local community conditions called for it.
“We are approaching the holiday season and people will congregate amongst family and friends who they might not ordinarily see,” she explained. “The chances of becoming exposed to COVID-19 will be high. So please understand, if our community’s COVID-19 cases increase again, we will be forced to reinstitute the mask mandate.”