Grand Rapids Reporter

Kent ISD issued the following announcement on Aug 20.

Today, Kent and Ottawa County Health Departments joined others across the state and issued public health order mandating face masks for Pre-K through 6th grade students and employees inside enclosed school buildings or facilities. See below for more details.

Full Public Health Order attached here.

The public health order attached above mandates masks for:

• Students in pre-kindergarten through grade six while inside any enclosed school building or facility. 
• Regardless of vaccination status, any employee providing service to any persons in pre-kindergarten through grade six while inside any enclosed school building or facility. 

This order is effective immediately and means that all staff, students, families and visitors must adhere to the order. Wearing a mask is no longer a recommendation, but a requirement in PreK-6th Grade schools and other settings indicated by the order.

The exceptions to the order include: 

• Persons in the act of eating or drinking.
• Persons under the age of four years; however, supervised masking is recommended for children who are at least two years of age.
• Persons with developmental conditions of any age attending school, although supervised masking is encouraged.
• Vaccinated teachers who are working with children who are hard of hearing or students with developmental conditions who benefit from facial cues.
• Persons who have a medical reason confirmed in writing from a Medical Doctor (MD) or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) currently licensed to practice medicine in the State of Michigan.

The order will remain in effect until 60 days past the date COVID-19 vaccine is authorized or approved by the FDA and available to persons in pre-kindergarten through grade six, or community transmission for Kent County is categorized as “Low” by the CDC for at least seven consecutive days, or until further notice from the Administrative Health Officer.

As a reminder, the federal government continues to require individuals to wear masks on school busses.  

Kent ISD will continue to follow public health guidance and strongly recommend masks for all staff, students and visitors indoors. On Wednesday, August 18, Kent County was elevated to “high,” the highest of the CDC’s transmission levels. In counties with high transmission, the CDC, MDHHS and our local health departments continue to strongly recommend masks for all individuals ages 2 years and older in educational and public indoor settings, regardless of vaccination status.

Original source can be found here.