Franklin County Schools Superintendent of Education Greg Hamilton announced Thursday that his system's mask mandate will no longer be in effect starting April 12, 2021.
The Franklin County Board of Education approved the school COVID-19 reopening plan last July. That plan included “strong encouragement” of the wearing of masks, but said mask wearing would become mandatory if ordered by Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey.
Ivey issued a statewide mask mandate that has been in effect since last year, but the governor's mask mandate ended April 9, 2021.
As a result, Franklin County Schools will no longer mandate the wearing of masks for students and employees as of April 12. Although the mandate has been lifted, Hamilton said wearing masks will continue to be strongly encouraged.
“The decision to wear a mask will be a personal one but is encouraged,” Hamilton said. “We will continue to monitor the data and guidelines of the Alabama Department of Public Health, Centers for Disease Control and local medical professionals to ensure the health and safety of each student and employee.”
Hamilton added that the system will be responsive to future data and will make adjustments in policy as needed.
“These adjustments may include the wearing of masks in certain situations, if it is determined to be warranted or an increase in COVID-19 cases is observed,” Hamilton said.
