LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Thursday morning will be the first day Jefferson County Public School students can decide whether to wear a mask or not.
The updated guidance comes one day after the Jefferson County School Board voted to give Superintendent Dr. Marty Pollio the authority to change the district's mask policy. The board voted to approve the motion 4-3 on Tuesday, but not everyone supported the decision.
Those who want to continue wearing a mask may still do so and schools will have masks available.
The district sent out the message late Wednesday afternoon. It's a move celebrated by some, and not so much by others.
"I don't want to see my friends or my teachers possibly dying from COVID,” Carli Hemphill, a JCPS eighth-grader said.
Hemphill said she fears what could happen as JCPS goes mask optional. She and her 'nana' Angela Wilson have already talked it over.
"She and I had already made the decision that we were going to continue to wear our masks,” Wilson said. “I don't want to be the mask police for other people and other children, but for us and our household, we will continue to wear our masks."
JCPS parent Brittany Fears agreed.
"I'm extremely cautious because number one my daughter is an asthmatic,” Fears said. That’s why her fifth-grade daughter will continue masking as she enters Foster Academy.
"I feel like last time we got a little bit relaxed and then Delta hit, and Omicron hit, and it was just a big mess, so I feel like it's just too soon for masks to be optional,” Fears said.
She said that with two months left, JCPS should have waited until the next school year.
“You know they're gonna come back from Spring Break spreading,” Fears said. “It's just too much in my opinion."
However, some say good riddance. There was a protest last night just before the Board of Education's decision to go mask optional.
“If you believe that the masks protect, then you, I feel that you should be able to wear the mask,” protestor Meredith Earnest said. “If you think it doesn't protect from the spread then you shouldn't have to wear it."
Even Gov. Andy Beshear, a staunch supporter of masks, welcomed a maskless crowd at a big bill signing in the capitol rotunda Wednesday.
Jefferson County’s COVID-19 level needs to stay in the low or medium for the masks to stay optional. The county is now in the medium level.
JCPS reminds everyone its COVID-19 testing program is ongoing. There are community testing centers for students, staff and their families at 50 locations.
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