The Spotsylvania County School Board voted to ease masking rules Monday night, making masks optional on school buses and school grounds.
The board voted 6 to 1 to make masks optional on school buses after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently dropped the federal mandate requiring them.
Another vote removed masking requirements on Spotsylvania County Public Schools' property. That means bus drivers, teachers and school staff can now choose whether to mask on school grounds. That measure passed 5 to 2.
One board member raised an objection to this because the change would take effect immediately on Tuesday morning, and she thought people needed more lead time.
Both policies were set to take effect Tuesday. Families have been able to opt out of school mask mandates since March 1, in line with a bill new Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed into law on Feb. 16.