The Christian County School Board chose to make masking optional in CCPS facilities at Thursday’s meeting, to be effective immediately.
Superintendent Chris Bentzel made the recommendation, saying the time is right, thanks to COVID-19 vaccinations being available now for all school aged children and cases continuing to trend low in the school system.
He says their ‘test-to-stay’ program has been a success, allowing many students to still attend school as close contacts as long as they tested negative each day—out of 189 tests, two came back positive, catching those cases before they got into school. Bentzel says the majority of staff agreed this was the correct path, and they’re ready to give some relief to both students and staff, who have maintained the mask mandate for a long time.
The board approved the optional masking unanimously, with board member Jeff Moore absent. It does allow Superintendent Bentzel the ability to reinstate the mandate, either in full or partially, in the event of an increase in COVID incidence rate in the school system. The mandate remains in place on school buses, which is a federal requirement.
In other action, the board approved the school calendar for year 2022-2023, with Director of Pupil Personnel Melanie Barrett saying the first day of school for students would be August 10 and the last would-be May 26, with fall break falling October 10 through the 14 and spring break taking place the first full week of April.
Read a statement from Superintendent Bentzel about lifting the mask mandate below:
