BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Acting Mayor Kim Janey stated that students in Boston's public schools will continue wearing masks in the fall.
Janey's statements on Thursday afternoon contradicted what Gov. Charlie Baker said regarding the mask mandate.
"As folks know, there are a number of children who still are not eligible for the vaccine," Mayor Kim Janey announced at a press conference. "And so children are currently wearing masks as they are in summer school and in different programs throughout the city. And, this fall, they will be wearing masks still."
Meanwhile, Gov. Baker has no plans to implement a new mask mandate.
"We don't have plans to change our current policies with respect to school in the fall," Baker said Thursday. "I think what's got to be the rule of thumb here is that people make decisions based on the current state of play with respect to the virus in their states, and we're in a very different place than most other parts of the country."
For summer school classes the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education encourages, but does not require, the use of masks.
Democratic lawmakers wrote a letter to Gov. Baker, stating they want K-6 programs (early education and care) to require masks when indoors. Children younger than 12 years old remain not eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine.
WBZ NewsRadio's Karyn Regal (@KarynRegal) reports: