Cameron School District no longer requiring masks

CAMERON, Wis. (WEAU) - Starting Wednesday, masks are optional for students and staff at Cameron schools.

Tuesday, the Cameron School Board voted stop requiring masks in school.

“They believed we were at a point where they were going to let parents make that decision,” Cameron School District Administrator Joe Leschisin said.

He said board members have been hearing from parents who believe they should make the decision on whether their kid wears a mask.

Not everyone’s on board with the district’s decision.

Cameron High School senior Addy Adams said she was afraid to go to school Wednesday.

“I really want to feel safe in my school and I feel like up until this point, my school’s done a really decent job of prevent COVID and that’s been because of the masks,” she said.

Barron County’s health officer, Laura Sauve, agrees with Adams. She’s fearful the district’s decision could lead to another local COVID-19 outbreak.

“This may impact the health of the students as well as the staff and families in the Cameron School District area, as well as potentially all of Barron County. We know that masking is effective in preventing the spread of COVID-19. Is it perfect? No, but it’s the best we have,” she said.

Leschisin doesn’t share Sauve’s concern.

“Right now, I am not concerned about an outbreak and I’m not concerned because I feel like we have done an outstanding job this entire school year reacting,” Leschisin said.

His confidence is cold comfort for Adams. She fears for her immunocompromised classmates.

“For them it must insanely hard to look around at all these people not wearing masks and think, ‘Wow! They must not really care about me or anyone around me,” she said.

Adams is helping circulate a petition demanding the school board reinstate the mask mandate.

Leschisin said he can start requiring mask wearing again if necessary.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in-person learning is safe if schools follow its guidelines, which include having everyone wear a mask.

Copyright 2021 WEAU. All rights reserved.