The local public school board will not be reinstating masking mandates for students and staff any time soon.
The Lambton-Kent District School Board debated the possibility of reintroducing the COVID-19 safety measure during a meeting on April 12, however, board officials decided not to move forward.
“The issue was discussed and the decision was to not move outside of following public health advice in the area of masking,” said Director of Education John Howitt.
Howitt said the number of students and staff that have been absent due to COVID-19 continues to remain steady, with Wednesday marking the lowest absenteeism rate so far this month.
He said a total of 8.56 per cent of staff were absent on Wednesday, along with 11.75 per cent of students.
“Absenteeism is continuing to be higher than we would expect for this time of year, however, [we are] pleased it is trending down,” said Howitt. “Students have been generally trending down since April 1. The staff have been hovering in the 9 to 10 per cent [ratio].”
The provincial government lifted masking mandates in Ontario for the majority of indoor settings on March 21. However, the province recently said it is examining the possibility of reintroducing the mask requirements amid the sixth wave of the pandemic.