Plainfield School District announced that it is waiting until Union County is at a lower transmission rate before officially dropping its mask requirement in schools, after the state drops its mandate on March 7.

The district is awaiting the green status for its transmission rate before giving the green light to lift its mask policy in schools.  

Makita Sargent, a nurse, was double masked while dropping off her two kids at Clinton Elementary School. She says the district shouldn’t lift their mask requirement just because other municipalities might.  

"Everybody is not fully vaccinated and kids being vaccinated, they can still be sick. So as long as the testing is every week, they should keep on doing that," she says.  

In a letter sent out to parents on Monday, Superintendent of Plainfield schools Diana Mitchell said, "Our mask policy requires that all staff and students wear a mask in school/office buildings until Union County is in the "Green Level" which indicates we are in a low COVID-19 transmission."  

According to the Mayo Clinic, Union County is in the “orange” as far as its COVID transmission rate goes.   

Newark Public schools told News 12 that it also isn’t lifting its own mask policy in school buildings even after the state wide mask mandate is lifted on March 7. The superintendent recommends parents get students vaccinated, and says 93% of the district’s teachers are fully vaccinated.