hopkinton-independent-logo2x
Hopkinton, MA
loader-image
Hopkinton, US
5:55 pm, Saturday, February 21, 2026
28°F
91 %
Wind Gust: 2 mph
Clouds: 99%
Sunrise: 6:34 am
Sunset: 5:25 pm

SIGN UP TODAY!
BREAKING NEWS & DAILY NEWSLETTER





Mass. education commissioner announces statewide mask requirement for K-12 students, staff

by | Aug 24, 2021 | Education, Featured: Education

The state’s Board of Elementary and Secondary Education — after previously indicating each district would make its own determination — on Tuesday announced a statewide mask requirement for all public K-12 students and staff through at least Oct. 1.

Education commissioner Jeffrey Riley said he will reassess the mandate on Oct. 1, looking at not just vaccination statistics but infection and hospitalization totals. He added that more details and guidance will be shared with districts this week.

Hopkinton’s School Committee already voted last week to open the school year with the requirement that students and staff wear face coverings.

The mandate comes amid a surge in COVID-19 cases due in large part to the delta variant.

State officials indicated that they hope the mask mandate spurs an increase in vaccinations. As an incentive, on Oct. 1, middle schools and high schools in which 80 percent of students and staff are vaccinated can lift the mask requirement for those who are vaccinated. However, Riley indicated that this plan might need to be altered.

“We also cannot completely rule out the possibility that masks may be required intermittently throughout the year, based on the trajectory of the virus and any new emerging variants,” he said.

Recent statistics indicate more than 95 percent of Hopkinton residents aged 12-19 have been at least partially vaccinated, although the percentage likely is a little lower due to the chart using old census population totals. No data has been shared on teacher/staff vaccinations.

0 Comments

Related Articles

Alternate well site needed for Charleswood School due to lack of water

Developers of Charleswood School will seek an alternative irrigation well site following a drilling attempt that did not yield water. During Tuesday’s Elementary School Building Committee meeting, Vertex project manager Chris Kenney said the area was drilled to a...

Charleswood Dirt

HHS Science Fair winners announced

Yulhee Kwon, Rudra Pachori and Jacob Wu took first place in the Hopkinton High School Science & Engineering Fair, which was held Feb. 4 at the HHS cafeteria. The winners’ project was titled “Noninvasive Inference of Presymptomatic Plant Stress from Latent...

HHS science fair

Schools Notebook: Local collegians recognized

Worcester Polytechnic Institute announced its fall dean’s list recipients, with a number of Hopkinton residents recognized: seniors Yasutora Ito (mathematical sciences major) and Mena Youssif (civil engineering), juniors Margaret Joyce (environmental engineering),...

Boston College
Key Storage 4.14.22