Face masks won’t be required for St. Johns County students this fall

ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – In a message to St. Johns County public school students, Superintendent Tim Forson said Friday face masks will no longer be required in school and on school buses when the new school year begins this fall.

Masks will still be recommended, he wrote.

Among the other changes announced Friday by Forson, desk shields will no longer be mandatory in all classrooms and schools will no longer conduct temperature checks.

The changes come days after a group of St. Johns County residents showed up at a school board meeting to call for the end of mask mandates in schools and one day after the CDC eased mask-wearing guidance for fully vaccinated people, allowing them to stop wearing masks outdoors in crowds and in most indoor settings.

The changes in protocols will take effect beginning with summer programs on June 14.

The district said it will continue its enhanced sanitation practices and all athletics, events, plays/performances and dances will occur next school year.

Protocols could be adjusted based on guidance from FHSAA and other state and local agencies.