Fourth grade student Apollo Lorenzoni works at his desk on the first day back to in-person school for fourth and fifth grade students at Myers Elementary School on Wednesday, March 17, 2021. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown lifted nearly all of the state’s pandemic restrictions Wednesday, but masks are still required indoors in most situations for students and educators during summer programs run by the Salem-Keizer School District.
District leaders said Wednesday school employees no longer need to wear masks when they’re working in buildings but not in “direct contact” with a student. That means a school office worker answering phones over the summer can do so unmasked, but a teacher helping students with summer school assignments inside a classroom would still be required to wear a face covering.
Direct contact means being within three feet of a student for at least 15 minutes under district guidelines, spokeswoman Emily Hicks said.
Students are still required to wear face masks indoors and on school buses, the district said.
District students and employees have been allowed to go maskless outdoors since May 25, when state and federal authorities announced changes to masking guidelines.
Brown said June 25 that as part of Oregon’s reopening, decisions about school health protocols and Covid precautions would revert to the local level, with the Oregon Health Authority and Oregon Department of Education offering recommendations, rather than rules. Schools are expected to resume full-time, in-person classes five days per week.
An updated set of state school guidelines “strongly advise(s)” requiring masks for students in kindergarten and up, noting that face coverings and vaccination remain the best tools to prevent the spread of Covid. There is no currently approved Covid vaccine for children under 12.
-Rachel Alexander
