EP Schools’ face-covering requirement extended until Feb. 25

Eden Prairie Schools will maintain its current face-covering requirement through Friday. Feb. 25.

According to a Jan. 27 parent post, that decision was made after reviewing the current data and seeking input from school and community leaders.

This safety measure will be reviewed again in February, and any updates will be communicated in the parent post.

A rise in COVID-19 case rates due to the rapidly spreading omicron variant was why the face-covering requirement was instituted on Dec. 27, shortly after winter break began, for all students and staff. 

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Before winter break began, only pre-K through 6th-grade students were required to wear face coverings indoors.

Earlier this week, Supt. Josh Swanson told the School Board that the community’s COVID-19 transmission and case rates are very high, much more so than last month.

“We’re still seeing a really active transmit and I want to make sure when we do make a (policy) shift, whatever those shifts are (will) allow us to stay in person and be successful,” he said.

Swanson said a “silver lining” in the form of real-time data suggests that the local omicron cases are peaking or have peaked.

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In the parent post, Eden Prairie Schools continues to carefully evaluate its mitigation and safety response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“One of our top concerns is maintaining safe learning spaces for our students,” it read. “So far this year, we have been able to maintain in-person learning and we continue to provide multiple layers of safety to our students, staff and school communities. Our schools have hosted vaccination clinics provided by Hennepin County, families have been able to access COVID-19 rapid testing for their students, and we now provide high-quality, KN95 face coverings to all staff and students.”

A vaccination clinic is scheduled for Feb. 9 (click on our calendar item here) at Eden Prairie High School.

To view the district’s COVID-19 dashboard, click here.