THETFORD — Thetford Academy is continuing to require masks indoors even though more than 80% of students there have been vaccinated, according to the head of school.
In deciding when and whether to drop masks, TA is relying at least in part on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention which, at the time Head of School Carrie Brennan issued her message to families on Tuesday, indicated that community levels of COVID-19 were still high in Orange County and therefore masks were still recommended.
Of the school’s roughly 300 students in grades 7-12, 86% have been vaccinated.
Until Thursday, the CDC was still recommending masks in most of the Upper Valley, except Windsor County, due to the levels of illness and COVID-19 hospitalizations in the community.
Vermont Gov. Phil Scott said last month that schools with at least 80% of students vaccinated should consider dropping mask mandates.
In the Upper Valley, The Sharon Academy has said it plans to stop requiring masks beginning March 7.
Many other area schools have not yet hit the 80% threshold.
In a Thursday news conference, Scott announced that the state would drop mask recommendations beginning March 14.
While TA continues to require masks, at least for now, the school is rolling back some other mitigation efforts, including phasing out daily health screenings; returning to in-person assemblies; and shifting to take-home rapid tests and eliminating weekly PCR surveillance testing.