Duval County Public Schools announced Friday that visitors and employees will no longer be required to wear masks.

In January, DCPS announced face masks would be required for visitors and staff but not students as COVID-19 cases surged due to the omicron variant. Capacity at athletic and performing arts events were also reduced to 75%.

More: Duval Schools provides cloth masks to its employees. But educators want N95s

According to DCPS, while all students, staff, and visitors are “strongly encouraged” to wear masks, the district will no longer enforce any mask requirements.

In addition, the district is lifting all capacity restrictions on arts and athletic venues. 

The county said a drop in student infections led to its decision to lift COVID-19-related restrictions.

More: Duval Schools reports more COVID-19 cases in the first 9 days of the 3rd quarter than the first 2 months of school combined

The district says if a student or employee gets sick, they are still urged to stay home. Furthermore, social distancing will still be encouraged.

As part of the district’s mitigation efforts, there will be regular cleaning and disinfecting of frequently touched surfaces. DCPS will also continue to provide soap, hand sanitizer, masks, and gloves for students and employees. Desks will continue to have shields separating them.

At the end of last month, Duval CORE, an organization made of DCPS teachers and parents, held a press conference urging the district to take action against rising COVID-19 infections within the district. The organization demanded the district provide PPE for all students and staff, have better contact tracing when an infection is reported, and organize a district-wide vaccination campaign. However, the organization’s demands did not call for a renewed mask mandate for students or the continuation of a requirement for staff.

More: What you need to know about Duval Schools lifting its mask mandate

Last week, Florida legislators proposed a bill that would reward districts who followed Gov. DeSantis’ order banning student mask mandates while financially targeting those that did not. 

If the bill is passed, Duval County Public Schools would lose $10.6 million.

DCPS, like most districts in Florida, did initially follow the order by allowing parents to opt their children out of wearing masks. However, the district later instituted a mask requirement as cases of COVID-19 increased during the Delta variant surge.

The mandate prompted multiple legal requirements by both the State of Florida and Duval County Public Schools. Ultimately, DCPS was fined about $26,000 by the state for defying the governor’s order.

That mandate was later repealed for students in October and has not been reinstated since. 

This story first appeared on First Coast News.

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