RICHMOND, Va. -- Richmond Schools announced that masks for students will become optional starting March 1.
In a message shared on Thursday night, Superintendent Jason Kamras said the law applies only to students. All adults are still required to follow RPS' mask mandate.
A parent or caregiver must formally request for their student to not wear a mask at school. To do so, they need to email RPS at COVIDrps@rvaschools.net, indicating the student's name and the school they attend. They do not need to provide a reason why the student will not be wearing a mask.
If a parent or caregiver does not submit a request to the above email, students must continue to wear a mask.
"No student will be separated, singled out or disparaged in any way if their parent/caregiver elects to have them not wear a mask," Kamras said in his message to the school community.
Students will still be required to wear a mask while on the bus.
"Our understanding is the law will go into effect on March 1, so that is the date we have been discussing," Kamras said. "I am working with our legal team to understand exactly what the law says so we are able to fully answer all the detailed questions we know people will have."
Like many parents across the City of Richmond, Julie Trevey is grappling with a major change facing her daughter's school: the start of masks being optional for kids.
"I don't love it because I don't believe our pandemic is over," Trevey said. "I still get notifications literally every day from Albert Hill saying someone has tested positive and contact tracing is in progress."
News yesterday that Virginia is giving school systems until March 1 to comply with a law banning school systems from imposing mask mandates on students puts her at a crossroads.
"Where I have to say you don't have to, I would like you to, you're not yet boosted, we need to get you boosted before you take your mask off that is my preference," Trevey said.
Hanover and Chesterfield schools made masks optional in January. in Henrico, students could begin attending school without masks starting Thursday, January 17.
Richmond Schools aggressively pushed back on any previous attempts to remove mask mandates from schools. The school system joined a lawsuit filed against Governor Youngkin's executive order giving parents the choice to mask their kids or not.
But, Jaclyn, who has two kids at Mary Munford, said it was time for city schools to give parents a choice.
"It is starting to seem like the masks, particularly the cloth masks, aren't really making a difference for the children, and for them to suffer, for them to never see their teacher's face, no smiles, no hug, it's not the way I want my children to grow up," Jacklyn said.
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