WCPS mask mandates will be dictated by school metrics

The Wayne County Board of Education voted Monday evening to take a school-by-school approach when determining whether or not to mandate masks.

Under the newly approved measure (board members Patricia Burden and Len Henderson voted ‘no’), masks would be required for at least two weeks on campuses that report an exclusion rate of 8 percent or higher.

In other words, if the number of students and staff from a particular school population who are currently quarantined is equal to or greater than the total school population multiplied by .08, masks would be required for a minimum of two weeks — and the mandate would stay in place until the campus exclusion number falls below that threshold.

The decision came after WCPS Executive Director for Community Engagement and Student & Family Support Ken Derksen reported that the number of COVID infections — and exclusions — was climbing as the omicron variant spreads throughout the nation.

Here are the current exclusion numbers he shared with the board via a PowerPoint presentation:

Superintendent Dr. David Lewis said he and his leadership team would begin crunching individual school numbers Tuesday morning to determine which WCPS campuses would need to implement mask mandates.

For the names of the schools, as they are released, follow the New Old North here and on our Facebook page @newoldnorth