OTTAWA COUNTY, Mich. — When students return to school after the holiday break, the mask mandate for Ottawa County children in kindergarten through sixth grade will already be lifted.
However, some schools have already decided to keep the masks in place when students return.
The Ottawa County Department of Public Health's mask order will officially be lifted on Jan. 2, which will mark 60 days since the vaccine became available for children ages five to 11. But, local school districts will still be able to institute mask mandates of their own if they choose.
Holland Public Schools is one of those districts. On Dec. 20, Interim Superintendent Nick Cassidy made a recommendation to the school board to leave the requirement in place.
"If you look at where we are, we can either have kids in masks, or we can have kids quarantined at home," said Jason Craner, the Marketing and Communications Director for Holland Public Schools.
"There are people that are upset about it but there are an equal number of parents and members of our community who are thankful that we're taking this step," Craner added.
The district said that even though the Health Department's order is expiring, they are still strongly recommending that students wear masks and if not, contact tracing and quarantining should be instituted.
"What we would see if we went against that strong recommendation would be so many kids and teachers out because of quarantine," said Craner, "that we couldn't make our attendance threshold and we may not even have enough staff."
"When the Health Department says that you should be wearing masks, we'll continue to wear masks," he added.
Grand Haven Area Public Schools (GHAPS) will also continue to implement mask wearing in school. GHAPS Superintendent Scott Grimes shared the following statement:
"We believe that in-person learning is critical to student success. Students and staff alike enjoyed in-person learning for most of 2021, and that will continue to be our goal in 2022. In accordance with guidance from the Ottawa County Department of Public Health, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the temporary indoor mask requirement will remain in place for all K-12 students, staff and visitors during school hours and at the GHAPS Open Door program. Ultimately, I share in the desire to defeat COVID-19 and get back to normal so we can focus on what we do best: providing a high quality education in a safe, nurturing environment."
Also along the lakeshore, West Ottawa's School Board has decided to keep the mandate in place during a Dec. 13 meeting.
13 On Your Side have not been able to confirm with other large districts in the area about their policy, but we will follow closely and report as those decisions are released.
Even some smaller districts have released their plan to continue mask wearing after the lifted order, like Black River Charter schools in Holland.
Their Head of School, Shannon Brunink, said that the decision could change if Ottawa County was no longer in the "high transmission" or "red" category, or if the health department changes their "strong recommendation" for wearing masks.
Jason Craner said the same goes for Holland Public Schools.
"We're really committed to keeping our doors open, our staff in the classroom, and we want students in seats," Craner said. "We cannot go back to remote learning. It was not great for students, it was not great for staff, it wasn't good for anyone."
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