The state will soon release guidelines recommending that schools keep mask mandates for now, but won’t require districts to do so.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is updating its guidelines for COVID-19 mitigation measures in schools. The agency will recommend that school districts keep whatever policies they have in place through the end of the school year.
That includes requiring masks for all students, teachers, and staff when they’re indoors—whether they’re vaccinated or unvaccinated.
But school districts will get to make the final call on that.
Michigan has lifted its mask mandate for fully-vaccinated people. But the U.S. Centers for Disease Control has recommended that schools keep mask requirements and other mitigation measures in place for the remainder of this school year.
Some Michigan school officials have expressed concern about ending in-school mask requirements, especially since many children aren’t yet eligible for vaccination. This month, emergency use authorization was expanded to allow 12 to 15 year olds to get the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
