Beaufort, Carteret counties’ school boards vote to keep masks optional

N.C. (WITN) - In their respective board of education meetings Tuesday night, Beaufort County Schools and Carteret County Public Schools voted to keep masks optional.

Beaufort County’s board of education voted 7-2 in favor of keeping masks optional. Masks have been optional in the school system since Oct. 6th, 2021.

Carteret County’s school board also voted to keep the current policy in place of masks being optional. The motion, which passed with a vote of 6-0, also included adopting the 5-day quarantine listed in the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services’ recently-released Public Health Toolkit.

The toolkit’s recommendation says for an unvaccinated person, or someone more than 6 months removed from their second mRNA vaccine dose (or more than 2 months after the J&J), if they have been exposed to someone with the virus but are asymptomatic, they can return to school after just 5 days of quarantine. Still, they must complete 5 days of “strict mask use.”

Masks have been optional in Carteret County since Nov. 1st, 2021.

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