Salida School District students will no longer be required to wear a mask on school buses or vans following an update from the Centers for Disease Control.
This aligns requirements for school transportation with the updated guidance that no longer recommends universal indoor mask wearing in K-12 schools and early education settings in areas with low or medium COVID-19 Community Levels.
Per the CDC, when making decisions about community prevention strategies and individual preventive behaviors, in addition to vaccination, health officials and people should consider the COVID-19 Community Level in the county. Chaffee County is currently considered “Low” Level for COVID-19 which allows Salida Schools to remove the mask mandate on their school buses. Note that masks will still be required per Federal guidelines for travelers using airplanes, trains or non-school public transportation.
The only remaining mask mandate for Salida Schools is at the Early Childhood Center, where funding for the Head Start program ties the school into Federal mandates still in effect. The School District will notify parents when that mandate is lifted or expires.
People can wear a mask based on personal preference, informed by personal level of risk. Please contact your school nurse if your student is experiencing symptoms or has been exposed to someone who has tested positive, to determine next steps.
For additional information about Salida Schools current COVID-19 practices, please contact Kim LeTourneau at 719-530-5225 or kletourneau@salidaschools.org.
For more information about current CDC recommendations, please visit https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html.
