Federal rules for public transportation require masks on school buses, regardless of vaccination status.
Central Ohio school districts requiring masks
Below is a roundup of whether central Ohio school districts are requiring masks because of COVID. Check back with Dispatch.com as more updated information becomes available:
Amanda-Clearcreek: Masks are optional.
Berne Union: Masks are optional.
Bexley: Masks are required for all students, staff and visitors both inside and during outdoor recess and outdoor physical education — regardless of vaccination status.
Big Walnut: Masks are optional.
Bloom-Carroll: Masks are optional.
Buckeye Valley Local: Masks are optional.
Canal Winchester: Masks are required.
Circleville: Masks are optional.
Centerburg: Masks are optional. The district’s original mask policy was rescinded at Sept. 13’s board of education meeting.
Grandview Heights: Masks are required for all K-12 students and staff. Masks are also required for all indoor school events.
Granville: Masks are optional.
Groveport Madison: Masks are required for all K-12 students and staff.
Hamilton: Masks are optional for all students, staff, and visitors while in indoor spaces.
Heath: Masks are optional.
Hilliard: Masks are required for all K-12 students, staff and visitors. Masks are not required when outside. All unvaccinated staff, regardless of grade level, will be required to wear a mask.
Jefferson: Masks are optional.
Johnstown-Monroe: Masks are optional.
Jonathan Alder: Masks are optional.
Lakewood Local: Masks are optional.
Lancaster: Masks are optional.
Liberty Union-Thurston: Masks are optional.
Licking Heights: Masks are required.
Licking Valley: Masks are optional.
Logan Elm: Masks are optional.
London: Masks are optional.
Madison-Plains: Masks are optional.
Marysville Exempted Village School District: Masks are optional.
Mount Vernon City Schools: Masks are optional.
New Albany-Plain: Masks are optional. Masks were previously required for PreK-6th grade students and staff through Nov. 15.
Newark: Masks are optional.
North Fork: Masks are optional.
North Union: Masks are optional.
Northridge: Masks are optional.
Olentangy: Face masks are recommended, but not required starting Feb. 14.
Pickerington: Masks are optional.
Reynoldsburg: Masks are required for all Pre-K through 12th grade students, teachers and staff.
Southwest Licking: Masks are optional.
South-Western: Masks are required for all students, staff and visitors in PreK through 6th grade buildings. Mask are strongly recommended for middle school and high school buildings.
Teays Valley: Masks are required.
Upper Arlington: Masks are required for students, teachers and staff in grades K-12. They will be optional starting Feb. 28.
Walnut Township: Masks are optional.
Westerville:Masks are required for students, faculty and staff. Westerville Schools would consider dropping the masking mandate if the number of cases go down.
“Should local county case rates drop below the CDC’s threshold of 50 cases per 100,000 individuals, then we would consider a strategic, tiered approach to making masks optional at the high school level,” the district said in a statement.
Westerville students in Pre-K through eighth grades will still be required to wear a mask regardless of case rates until a vaccine is available for children under 12.
Westfall: Masks are optional.
Whitehall: Masks are required for all PreK-12th grade students and staff.
Worthington: Masks are required for all students, staff, teachers, and visitors inside K-12 school buildings, regardless of vaccination status.
Previously the district only required masks for students in kindergarten through eighth grade.
