The state’s largest school district has adopted a mask mandate for its youngest students that will be in place as long as coronavirus case rates remain high.
Over jeers from a large crowd, the Anoka-Hennepin school board voted 4-1 Monday night to require masks in elementary schools and sixth-grade classrooms in an effort to protect students who are ineligible for vaccines.
The mandate will be in effect as long as the latest county rate of new coronavirus cases is at least 15 per 10,000 residents.
Eleven of the state’s 15 largest school districts now have mask mandates in effect for some or all of their students and staff.
State health and education officials are encouraging schools to require masks, but that decision is up to each school district this school year.