Vt. school district requires masks outdoors in some situations

BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) - The Essex Westford School District is taking some extra precautions for students who are going outside.

School officials recently informed families that they want to play it extra safe. That means unvaccinated students in kindergarten through fifth grade will still be required to wear a mask outside if they can’t keep six feet from one student to another.

In an email to parents, leaders cited the rising number of COVID cases in our area and wanting those who are unvaccinated to be extra safe.

Summit Street School Principal Suzanne Gruendling says they expect to have the same success keeping COVID out of school as they did last year.

“Our students were highly successful at it last year. We look forward to that same success this year. So, it might not have been how -- a week or two ago -- we thought we were going to start our outside portion of our school year, but I’m really confident in our students, our staff, our families. To stay masked outside, we can have the greatest protection for our unvaccinated students,” she said.

The district says they will continue to monitor the COVID numbers in the state and the community and revise the policy if needed.

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