St. Joseph public school children will no longer have to wear masks in the classroom.
The St. Joseph School Board, in a surprise move, voted 5-to-2 to no longer require that masks be worn in the classroom. Masks still will be required on school buses due to a federal mandate. The move comes as a surprise. The St. Joseph School Board had agreed to drop the mandate once the Buchanan County COVID-19 positivity rate fell below five percent.
The St. Joseph Health Department reports the county positivity rate stands at 5-point-14 percent. Still coronavirus pandemic trends locally have been encouraging and the school board decided that the masked mandate was no longer necessary.