Mask mandate ends in Omaha Public Schools

Omaha Public Schools has officially decided to lift the mask mandate, deeming masks as optional.  

A school board meeting on Feb. 24 decided that all schools in OPS will officially go mask optional. Omaha Public Schools has been under a mask mandate since the return of in-person school in October 2020. Even with the effort to maintain a safe learning environment, many kids still contracted Covid-19. This ultimately led to the keeping of masks, even as other school districts went mask optional. But, in a time when the vaccine is now available to many OPS students, Dr. Cheryl Logan and the school board voted to remove masks. 

Eight people spoke at the Feb. 24 school board meeting, making their cases for a masked or mask optional environment. Most of these people were parents or faculty of Omaha Public Schools, aside from Central sophomore Charlie Yale. Yale was one of the youngest of the group of speakers, yet his speech was impactful. Yale spoke in support of a continued mask mandate and gave an interesting perspective from a student in Omaha Public Schools.  Yale gave a compelling argument with comparisons that provided a unique take on the decision.  

“Do not throw your umbrellas away during a rainstorm, just because you are not getting wet,” Yale said.  

After hearing several compelling arguments, the school board decided that there will no longer be a mask mandate in place. Other speakers, such as Omaha Public Schools parent Nicole Croson, voiced their want to end the mask mandate. 

“What we should encourage is mask if you want or you need to,” Croson said.  

The lifting of the mask mandate has not affected many people’s masking choices. The hallways of Central are still filled with many masked students, with a full face now and then. It is noticeable that most who have chosen to remove masks are teachers. This makes sense to some, as teachers are usually in an environment where they can put six feet of space between themselves and students. Most Central students have remained masked, as it is much harder to remain a safe distance from others in a school as big as Central. The lift of the mask mandate did not seem to affect the environment as much as some could have expected.  

Many might have expected cases to skyrocket within the last month, because of the lift of the mask mandate. Yet, it is shown by the Mayo Clinic that Nebraska has dropped to a 5.4% positive test rate since the dropping of the mask mandate. This is a decrease from 11.4% as of Feb. 24. This is not a direct reflection of the mask-optional move, but it does show that Nebraska seems to have not been harshly affected by the lift. However, this does not mean that people are still not getting sick. There is still a relatively high percentage of Nebraska that is unvaccinated and Covid is still prevalent in the Omaha area, but many feel safe in the mask-optional environment.  

There are still many questions from students and teachers on how masks will affect their future. In the following school years, there is a possibility that masks may be prohibited or mandated again. But for now, the choice to mask is completely up to the students and teachers of Omaha Public Schools.