East Lansing Public Schools is reinstating an indoor mask mandate beginning Monday.
In an email to parents Friday, Superintendent Dori Leyko cited the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention switching Ingham County's COVID-19 risk level on Thursday from "low" to "medium" risk.
Students and staff will be expected to wear "well-fitting" masks inside school buildings and while riding district transportation unless they're granted an exemption, Leyko's email said.
East Lansing's school board voted in April to make masks optional, although the board also granted the superintendent authority to require masks once again if cases or the CDC risk level increase.
The CDC updates those county-by-county designations weekly, and Leyko indicated the district could lift its mask requirement if Ingham County's risk level drops back to "low."
The district's last day of the school year is June 3.
For the general public, the CDC recommends masking indoors in public places once a community reaches a "high" risk level.
Much of mid-Michigan, including Eaton, Clinton and Jackson counties, is currently listed as medium risk.
