Throughout the week, many school districts have begun to remove mask mandates in classrooms and sports activities as COVID-19 cases drop significantly. On Monday, the Wayzata School District changed their masking policy from “required masking” to “recommended masking.” Furthermore, both the Eden Prairie and South Washington County Districts will also be lifting their mask mandates starting next week.

As a result of the decline in Omicron cases in Ramsey and Hennepin County and the approval of SPA’s Medical Director Paul Anderson, Head of School Bryn Roberts announced via email today that SPA will also be lifting mask mandates. Starting on Feb. 28, Randolph Campus will become mask optional as Goodrich Campus launches more flexible approaches to masking. As the vaccination rate rapidly increases at SPA, Roberts stated that the masking policy will apply to all events and activities whether for sports or after school.

Roberts said, “Since the beginning of February, five students and one faculty member have tested positive for COVID-19, and this past week we have had no new cases of COVID-19 on either campus.”

In addition to the new masking guideline, students will also be resuming full attendance in Huss Auditorium for senior speeches while most of the plexiglass will be removed in the dining hall. This might be the time for people to finally return back to normal in absence of COVID-19 after nearly two years of the pandemic.

“As long as everyone is vaccinated with the booster there is not much more to do with the decline in cases. It’s not like I want to wear a mask for the rest of my life and I predict that eventually, COVID-19 will become part of our yearly lives much like the flu or another sickness,” sophomore Annika Lillegard said.

Besides Lillegard, junior Julia Colbert also agrees that the number of cases is not likely to exactly “skyrocket” since the majority population of the SPA community have either gotten COVID-19 or have received vaccination and booster shots. Regardless Lillegard and Colbert are worried that cases might rise again due to the change in protocols.

“The cases were low for the past couple weeks, but in part that was due to the masks. You don’t really know where people have been or if they were exposed so there’s a risk there. I also think having it be mask optional at sport events could lead to a lot of exposure. There’s risk with parents, visitors, and other teams,” Colbert said.

Not only has the pandemic played an effect on health, but it has also affected many social lives. For some, masks and social distancing have acted as a barrier in negotiating with peers and making new connections. This change in masking policy might change or even add more pressure onto that.

“I do believe the people that are more cautious about COVID-19 will distance themselves from people not wearing masks. Some people haven’t worn masks correctly either so not a lot will really change. I don’t think the masks really affected our grade socially this year. However, if we have people going online or staying home because of the decision that could affect friend groups,” Colbert said.

Depending on the choice of students and faculties, “mask optional” might not make a big difference among the masking population within SPA. Rather, now it’s a debate about whether right now is the right time for the change.