JEFFERSON PARISH, La. — The Jefferson Parish Schools will opt out of Louisiana's statewide mask mandate, the district announced on Thursday.
The school district cited declining COVID-19 cases and vaccine availability that now extends to children as young as five years old.
"Face masks will be strongly encouraged for all employees and students while inside," a statement from JP Schools said.
Masks will be required on school buses per U.S. Presidential executive order. Visitors who are non-essential or non-district employees, must also continue to wear masks. Masks will also be required during indoor school events such as dances and indoor field trips.
Gov. John Bel Edwards largely ended Louisiana's nearly three-month-old indoor mask mandate since the state has emerged from its latest coronavirus spike and is seeing lower rates of COVID-19 infection. Edwards' order lifted requirements for grocery stores, restaurants, bars, retailers, colleges, and other sites but required some schools to maintain the mandate if they don't follow tight quarantine rules.
Several southeast Louisiana school districts immediately opted out of the mandate after Edwards' announcement. New Orleans and St. John the Baptist Parish public schools announced that they would still retain the face coverings. Jefferson Parish had previously said that district administrations would review the change and make the decision at a later time.
"We're the largest school system in the state and one of the largest employers in the parish. We owe it to our 49,000 children and 6,400 employees to do our due diligence on any decision of this magnitude," Superintendent Dr. James Gray said.
JP Schools say quarantine for close contacts who are not vaccinated, or vaccinated and showing symptoms, will be 10-14 days. Close contacts who are fully vaccinated and showing no symptoms are not required to quarantine.
"Aside from certain instances where masks are still required, masking will be a personal decision made by employees, families and students," a statement from JP Schools said.
► Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News app now in the IOS App Store or Google Play.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.