Oldham County Schools removes mask requirement as COVID numbers drop

CRESTWOOD, Ky. (WAVE) - Oldham County’s school district announced it will be making another change to its current mask guidance due to a drop in COVID cases.

According to a letter sent to parents and staff on Thursday, Oldham County Schools will be changing back to a mask recommendation for students, staff and visitors inside school buildings starting Feb. 14.

Oldham County Schools said the district has been monitoring and reviewing the following data points daily and weekly since reinstating the face mask requirement on January 11:

Number of positive COVID-19 cases on a 5-day average within Oldham County Schools
Hospitalization and ICU capacity both locally and within our region
Oldham County COVID-19 incident rate
State COVID-19 positivity rate
Oldham County vaccination rate

Superintendent Dr. Jason Radford said the sharp decline in Oldham County’s incident rate and the state’s positivity rate along with a downward trend in the 5-day average case numbers led to the decision to change mask guidance.

“We also recognize that conditions continue to change as the pandemic progresses,” Radford said in a letter. “Members of our school community, including students, have now had time to become fully vaccinated, new medical therapies have been developed and become publicly available, and experience has demonstrated that the Omicron variant, although highly transmissible, is less severe for most individuals.”

While mask guidance has changed for inside Oldham County School buildings, masks are still required to be worn on buses due to a federal mandate. The district said it could implement a requirement for individual schools or adjust guidance based on updated state and local conditions.

Oldham County Schools will release the full updated COVID-19 plan before school hours on Monday.