Some Utah School Districts Lift Mask Requirement For Final Week
May 24, 2021, 9:20 PM | Updated: Apr 14, 2023, 2:48 pm
LEHI, Utah — For the first time in the 2020-2021 school year, students in the Alpine School District attended class without a mask requirement.
“We obviously are requesting that everyone treat each other with respect and civility as we finish out this school year because there are so many opinions about mask wearing,” said David Stephenson, a spokesperson at Alpine School District. “We are excited to be to this point in our school year, to celebrate our students and reflect on this eventful and challenging school year.”
Students at Lehi High School remember the chaotic year well.
“It’s been pretty weird,” said sophomore Abigail Younger. “It’s been really weird with masks because we can’t see each other’s faces.”
“It’s just been a lot different than any other school year,” said sophomore Alyssa Haddon. “I feel like relieved.”
“This senior year has been a handful, I’ll tell you that,” said Ethan Hemingway, who is preparing to graduate on Tuesday during an in-person ceremony at Rio Tinto Stadium.
“At the start of the year, everyone was panicking about this pandemic, and I’m like, ‘Well, there’s not too much to panic about now cause it seems we have vaccines and everything like that,'” Hemingway said. “Now that we’re removing masks, it’s just interesting to see how the world is changing bit by bit.”
The Alpine School District joined most districts across the state in following Gov. Spencer Cox’s latest direction: encouraging, but not requiring, face masks during the final week of class at K-12 schools.
Salt Lake City School District has opted to keep masks in place through the last day of class.
“Some definitely are considering it a great reward for the work they’ve done throughout the school year,” Stephenson said.
And for many, the move away from masks, coupled with end of year activities and graduation ceremonies, are a sign of a more ordinary school year to come.
“I’m going to be really glad to get back to it because I’ve been missing it,” Younger said. “But I think it’s going to be kind of a cool story to tell our kids, be like, ‘I kind of lived through a pandemic.’”
