TOLEDO, Ohio — Due to the substantial increase of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Lucas County, Toledo Public Schools will now require all students and staff members - regardless of vaccination status - to wear face masks during the school or workday.
This new directive also affects all district schools and offices.
As the biggest district in the area, leaders say this was the best course of action as they considered all the factors.
"All indicators said this was the time to do it and we wanted to make sure we progressed fairly quickly on it," said TPS Deputy Superintendent James Gant.
The announcement comes a little more than two weeks after the district previously said masks were only required for students in kindergarten through eighth grade.
TPS is the first district in the area to change its mask policy after the county moved to a "substantial" level of community spread.
But this change isn't something the district takes lightly; leaders say they considered all their options.
"We look at what other districts and what other public institutions are doing. We look at state data, we talk to our health folks quite a bit about it so there's a lot of factors," Gant said.
According to TPS, this step is being taken, along with other preventative measures, in an effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in the community and will remain in effect until further notice.
The district was already concerned about students who aren't old enough to get a vaccine.
At this point, leaders believe requiring masks for everyone is best regardless of vaccination status, but they still want more people to be protected.
"In terms of the vaccination process and us finding ways to get all of our employees vaccinated and those that can be vaccinated within our community, within our district, we'll be doing everything we can to make sure that happens by facilitating that whenever possible," Gant said.
Officials at Toledo Public Schools say the numbers they have for vaccination rates are from when staff and teachers were first able to get the vaccine back in the spring and that number was around 45%.
Since then, they know more have gotten vaccinated, but they do not have a current count.
As for students, the district says they simply aren't allowed to ask parents about whether their kids are vaccinated.
TPS staff members will begin wearing masks on Tuesday, Aug. 10, and students must be in masks beginning on their first day of school.