MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Miami-Dade County Public Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho has reversed course days after saying face mask use would be optional during supervised outdoor activities for the next two weeks of the school year.
On Thursday, Carvalho said masks would be required for the rest of the school year, including while outdoors.
According to the superintendent, the district’s medical task force recommended the optional use of masks while doing outdoor activities, such as physical education, however Carvalho said school officials will meet with the teachers union and medical task force again before finalizing a decision on when masks will become optional.
He said a final decision has not been made regarding the protocols for summer school, but said he is confident based on the scientific information we have now that the 2021-2022 school year will be mask optional.
“The light at the end of the tunnel is bright and it continues to get brighter,” Carvalho said during a Thursday event at Fredrick Douglass Elementary School.
The superintendent said conditions have improved dramatically and he believes they will continue to improve.
He said social distancing will still be in place at least through summer school.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended May 15 the continual use of face masks and social distancing at schools. This is despite the CDC recommendation the next day for fully vaccinated people to resume activities without wearing a mask, except where required.