Seattle schools will drop COVID-19 mask mandate

SEATTLE (AP) — Seattle Public Schools says it will lift its COVID-19 mask mandate beginning Monday.

Late last month Gov. Jay Inslee said the statewide mask requirement for schools would lift on March 12 as cases and hospitalizations have been declining following a surge during caused by the omicron variant. Inslee had said going forward decisions about masking would be left to local districts.

In an e-mail to families on Wednesday the Seattle district said masking will be optional as of March 14.

“We are pleased that COVID-19 cases continue to fall in SPS schools and King County,” the district said. “However, there may be times when we will need to bring back effective mitigations if there is an increase in community, classroom, or school-wide transmission.”

The Seattle district is Washington state's largest, with about 50,000 students.