PARMA, Ohio — With COVID-19 case numbers continuing to drop across Cuyahoga County, the Parma City School District has suspended its mask mandate for students and teachers, effective as of Thursday afternoon.
The district made the decision to drop the mandate as they remained "committed to monitoring data and evolving as conditions changed." Currently, only three students and one staff members are unable to attend in-person classes due to the coronavirus.
"We are extremely hopeful that we do not have to revisit this measure in the future," the district said in a statement, "but we have learned too often that we can never guarantee anything relative to COVID."
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Indeed, Parma schools originally dropped its mandate in November, only to reinstate it after winter break as the omicron surge ripped through Northeast Ohio. Gov. Mike DeWine had urged schools districts to require masks for students and staff while indoors, but did not order them to do so.
All children at least 5 years old (i.e. virtually all kids going to public schools in Parma) are eligible to receive Pfizer's COVID vaccines. However, as of Feb. 10, just 31% of Cuyahoga County residents under 20 have gotten the shots.
Due to federal regulations, students will still be required to wear masks on school buses until further notice. Since the state began tracking numbers in mid-2020, 370 Parma students and 215 staff members have contracted COVID-19.
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