MONROE — After a year of covered faces, students, staff and visitors to School District of Monroe buildings will have the option to leave the mask at home.

The Board of Education unanimously voted July 12 to approve the optional wearing of face masks in district facilities beginning immediately, as recommended by District Administrator Rick Waski.

Previously, face coverings were required to be worn inside of all district facilities.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fully-vaccinated individuals can resume normal activities unmasked.

An individual is considered fully-vaccinated two weeks after they have received both doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, or two weeks after a single-shot vaccination, such as Johnson and Johnson.

The CDC recommends that everyone age 12 and older get a COVID-19 vaccination.

“It makes sense from a medical standpoint,” District Nurse Sam Kubly said. “The people that are old enough to be vaccinated are going to be vaccinated if they want to be.”

District Administrator Rick Waski said that 38% of eligible students in the district and almost 85% of staff have been vaccinated.

“We feel as a district that we’re at a tipping point where we can make masks or face coverings optional,” Waski said.

Though the vote was made to make masking optional, Waski said that the possibility of individual buildings having mask requirements when necessary still exists.

Community members interested in finding a Pfizer vaccine for people 12 and older can do so at http://www.

vaccines.gov/. Those 18 and older can attend Green County Public Health’s COVID-19 vaccine clinics Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays 8 a.m. through 4 p.m. at the Green County Government Services Building.