COVID cases are on the decline in Metro Nashville Public Schools and board members could soon make a decision to drop the district’s universal masking policy.
Last August, school officials adopted a mandate requiring all individuals in school buildings and on buses to wear face coverings. They were planning to revisit the rule before the second semester began, but the more contagious Omicron variant led to a new spike in cases.
At one point in January, about one in every 33 Nashville residents had an active COVID case, according to local health officials. But the high number of cases have recently come down — especially within the school district.
“This week we received some great news that our COVID-19 case rates saw a steep decline among students last week, compared to the previous three weeks of reported data,” superintendent Adrienne Battle said during a school board meeting on Tuesday.
Battle also added that, even though the number of positive cases reported last week was still higher than at any point last year, the “nearly 50% decline was a good sign.”
School board members are expected to revisit the district’s mask mandate should the decline in cases continue. Battle didn’t give a specific timeline as to when that may be, but board member Fran Bush said she’s planning to bring it up at the end of the month.
“I just want to put the public on notice that I will be requesting a mask-optional discussion [and] vote for the next meeting,” Bush explained.
As of this month, Metro Schools is one of only a few Tennessee districts with a universal masking requirement in place. But families have been allowed to request that their students be exempt from the mandate.
The news comes as some states, including New Jersey and Oregon, are making plans to drop their masking requirements for schools.
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