Hopkinton High School has become the first Massachusetts school to get approval from the state to lift its mask mandate for vaccinated students and staff.
The school has at least 80 percent of its students and staff members vaccinated — a threshold that state Education Commissioner Jeffrey Riley set for middle and high schools that want to drop the state’s universal mask mandate before Nov. 1.
The mask requirement initially had been set to expire at the beginning of October, but state education leaders extended it late last month. Under the mandate, all students and staff are required to wear masks indoors regardless of vaccination status, except when they are eating, drinking, or taking a designated mask break.
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Schools that want to remove the mask mandate for vaccinated people must submit an attestation form to the state and have it approved by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Hopkinton’s superintendent submitted the district’s form on Oct. 1, and it was approved Thursday.
Unvaccinated students and staff in schools that have hit the 80 percent threshold still are required to wear masks.