School Board of Manatee County removes mask mandate

School District of Manatee County students and employees will not be required to wear masks during summer school and the 2021-22 school year. 

The School Board of Manatee County unanimously voted to remove the mask mandate during a special meeting May 28, effective immediately. The mask mandate has been in effect since Aug. 11, 2020, and required students and employees to wear masks while in district facilities and at district events.

School board members Scott Hopes and Mary Foreman removed their masks once the board voted. 

“It is my hope that the school board’s decision today is an important milestone in our return to normalcy for our students and employees,” said Cynthia Saunders, the superintendent of the district, in a news release. “When the mask mandate was initiated in August, I firmly believe it was the right thing to do, and I think the mandate helped us complete this school year without missing a single day of school. To me, the decision today represents the closing of one chapter, and the beginning of a new one.”