PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Rhode Island’s education council has essentially voted to require masks for all K-12 students this fall.
It voted Tuesday night to reject any district’s back-to-school plans that don’t include mask mandates.
The vote came after a state Education Department lawyer told the board it did not have the authority to do so.
WPRI-TV reports that after the Rhode Island Council on Elementary and Secondary Education made its unanimous decision, state Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green said she will follow the directive even if it results in lawsuits.
The decision comes as the delta variant is being blamed on another wave of coronavirus cases.
