By Shereen Siewert
Students in the D.C. Everest School District will not be subject to new masking rules, at least for now.
Superintendent Kristine Gilmore on Wednesday confirmed with the school board that current policies will remain in place, though the district is working with the Wausau School District and local health officials on future mitigation strategies, should they become necessary.
Since the beginning of the school year masks have been optional for students in grades six through 12 and for staff in the district. Children in kindergarten through grade 5 must wear a mask unless their parents opt out of the policy. The district is continuing to follow physical distancing guidelines “to the best of our ability,” officials said.
As of Thursday there are 24 active student cases and two active staff cases of COVID-19 in the D.C. Everest district, with 50 cumulative positive cases since the school year began.
In the Wausau School District, masks are optional. But school officials say they will revisit the issue during a Sept. 27 meeting of the Education and Operations Committee, when more data is available.
