Fulton County Schools will no longer require masks inside its buildings as of June 1.
The district announced the update Friday. The school year ends Wednesday.
A statement from the district cited the recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines that vaccinated individuals do not need to wear masks in most situations. A few days after issuing that recommendation, the CDC sent out an update advising schools to maintain COVID-19 mitigation efforts through the end of the school year.
“After the CDC’s new guidance was issued to allow vaccinated individuals to go without masks, it has become impractical for the district to differentiate between those who have been vaccinated or not,” the Fulton district said in a statement.
The district said it will still strongly recommend that students, employees and visitors wear masks.
The district said that of its 8,600 employees who responded to a survey, 80% reported they are vaccinated. The district employs roughly 14,000 full- and part-time workers, according to its website.
“The cautious, measured approach FCS has undertaken throughout the school year has allowed us to provide in-person instruction with the least disruption possible. We plan to continue with this approach as we move into summer learning and the new 2021-22 school year in August,” the district’s statement said.
Fulton previously relaxed its mask rules, allowing students and employees who were engaged in outside activities such as recess to do so without covering their faces.
Cobb and Marietta school districts already relaxed mask requirements for vaccinated students and staff earlier this month.
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