St. George • The Washington County School District is no longer requiring students and staff to wear face coverings inside school campuses.

The district’s board of education sent out an e-mail to faculty and staff Friday morning that stated: “It is our recommendation that masks should continue to be worn throughout WCSD schools, and we encourage all students to wear them.”

When asked by St. George News, Steve Dunham, spokesperson for the Washington County School District, said the use of the word “recommendation” means that the district will no longer enforce the wearing of masks on school grounds.

The move runs contrary to a state order that was reissued Tuesday that said that despite all the criteria being met in the legislative “endgame” bill that ended all state COVID-19 restrictions on Tuesday, the mandatory mask order still applied in schools through June 15 or the last day of the school year, whichever comes first.

The last day for Washington County schools is May 26.

For more on the Washington County Commission’s announcement, visit St. George News.

This article is published through the Utah News Collaborative, a partnership of news organizations in Utah that aim to inform readers across the state.