GIPS to remove district-wide mask mandate

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (KSNB) - During the Grand Island Public School board meeting Thursday evening the GIPS Board of Education announced it would move the mask mandate to a recommendation — not a requirement.

All staff, faculty, visitors and students had been required to wear a mask while inside of their facilities since the beginning of the 2021-2022 academic year, but starting January 3, they planned to lift that mandate.

GIPS Superintendent Dr. Tawana Grover said, a lot of their decision making was based from survey results they had received from parents and guardians of children in their district.

“Overwhelmingly, more than 80 percent of our families said that they were somewhat comfortable or mostly comfortable moving to this transition for masks to be recommended, but not mandatory, that did give us a great confidence in making that decision last night,” Grover said.

In addition to the survey results, dr. Grover said the authorization of COVID-19 vaccines for children ages 5 and above impacted their decisions. She continued to say, their pandemic team met on a daily basis and that they planned to continue monitoring transmission rates in their district for any changes to the new policy.

Additionally, Dr. Grover advised parents to keep their kids home from school if they were feeling ill to avoid possible spread of the virus.