33 more school districts in Ohio start requiring masks

COLUMBUS – Another 33 Ohio school districts have enacted universal masking policies in the past week amid record hospitalizations of young people with COVID-19. As of Thursday, 241 of Ohio’s 609 school districts required masks for all students in classrooms, according to the Ohio Department of Education.

Two districts switched from requiring masks to making them optional for all in the past week: Wadsworth City and Windham Exempted Village.

Last week, 32 districts switched from making masks optional for all or some to requiring them for everyone and four dropped their mask requirements. Since Sept. 2, 122 school districts have switched to universal masking requirements, according to a USA TODAY Network Ohio analysis of state data.

About 47% of Ohio public school districts require masks for some or all students. The governor’s office estimates close to 59% of all K-12 students are under a mask requirement.

A recent Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center study found that districts with mask mandates had lower rates of cases and exposure than districts that required them only for students in kindergarten through sixth grade. The study used data from seven Greater Cincinnati school districts with a total of 64,500 students: three required universal masking and four only required masks for elementary students.

The rate of students diagnosed with COVID-19 was 78% higher in the partially masked schools than those that had universal masking. The rate of students being quarantined was 60% higher in the partially masked schools.

In the three-week period ending Sunday, 425 children under age 18 have been admitted to Ohio hospitals with COVID-19, according to Ohio Hospital Association data. The previous threeweek record was 199 youth admissions, during the end of November and the beginning of December.

COVID-19 cases in Ohio schools

Enquirer reporter Terry Demio contributed.

Jackie Borchardt is the bureau chief for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.

LIZ DUFOUR/CINCINNATI ENQUIRER First graders, Ella Siciliano, left, and Crosley Roewer, share their work last month during an assignment in Julie Fischer’s first grade class at J.F. Burns Elementary. Kings Local Schools have mandated masks for pre-k through sixth grade. As students walk into the classroom, they use hand sanitizer to clean their hands.