DEARBORN/DEARBORN HEIGHTS — While the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the state Health Department are loosening mask requirements, local school leaders have no plans of doing so just yet.

Dearborn Public Schools Superintendent Glenn Maleyko said that the district will be continuing as originally planned for the remainder of the school year.

“The most recent recommendations from the CDC has loosened mask wearing requirements for those who have been vaccinated,” Maleyko said in a statement. “These recommendations are a sign that we are slowing the spread of COVID-19 and moving closer to returning to a lifestyle we enjoyed before the start of this pandemic. However, at this time, all staff, students, parents and other visitors to our buildings will be required to wear a mask. As we move forward, this requirement may change, but for now this is our plan as we enter the final stretch of the 20-21 school year.”

With students under the age of 12 not yet being eligible for the vaccines, the CDC has also recommended masks remain in schools.

Dearborn Heights’ Crestwood Superintendent Youssef Mosallam said that they, too, will remain with their current process and do not have plans of easing mask requirements in their district either. 

On Thursday, Governor Whitmer said that all COVID-19 restrictions, including the mask mandate, will be lifted by July 1 and because of that, it is not yet confirmed if school districts will have the choice to require masks come the beginning of the school year in the fall.

“I know this has been a tough year for everyone with the COVID-19 pandemic,” Maleyko said. “However, each day we take a step closer to rebuilding our confidence in the health conditions in our community and the workplace. It will take time before everyone feels safe and we are confident that the spread of COVID-19 has reached a point that it is no longer a public health crisis. I look forward to that day.”