Los Angeles Unified School District will drop its outdoor masking requirement for students and staff next week, the superintendent announced Friday.
“In alignment with the Department of Public Health and with guidance from our medical director and health partners, outdoor masking will be optional for all individuals in Los Angeles Unified Schools effective February 22 2022,” Supt. Alberto Carvalho said in a statement posted on Twitter.
The relaxed policy will take effect on Tuesday, due to the President’s Day holiday on Monday. Those participating in athletics on Monday, however, can unmask while outside, Carvalho said.
Masks are still required indoors at schools across the state.
Earlier Friday, Carvalho told KTLA that it was time to ease the mandate.
“The science backs the unmasking of kids in outdoor settings, the unmasking of adults in outdoor settings with the appropriate precautions being taken,” Carvalho said. “We need to acknowledge that positivity rates in our community and particularly in our schools are significantly low, the level of vaccination exceedingly high, particularly for 12 and older.”
Masking rules were tightened ahead of the spring semester, amid a surge in coronavirus cases largely due to the highly contagious omicron variant.
At the time, all staff were required to wear medical-grade masks and students were told to mask up outdoors.
Additionally, the district prohibited cloth face masks for students later in January. Students were urged to wear “well-fitted, non-cloth masks with a nose wire” at all times.
Because daily COVID-19 hospitalization numbers remained below 2,500 for seven consecutive days, Los Angeles County relaxed some outdoor masking rules Wednesday.