Richardson ISD to remove temporary mask requirement for district

Richardson ISD plans to remove its temporary mask requirement for all students, personnel and visitors after this week.

In an update posted to the district website Jan. 27, RISD officials said Jan. 28 will be the final day of the temporary mask requirement because positive COVID-19 cases have been steadily decreasing since peaking in mid-January. Beginning Jan. 31, masks will be "strongly encouraged for all people inside schools," the district website states.

The district's COVID-19 dashboard, which was last updated Jan. 26, lists 643 active cases among students and 220 active cases among staff members. Those totals amount to 1.76% of district students and 3% of staff members, according to the dashboard.

RISD announced Jan. 7 that the temporary mask requirement would be put in place through the end of the month due to the increase in COVID-19 cases in the district. On that date, the dashboard showed 2,803 students and 705 employees had been diagnosed with the virus since the district began collecting data for this school year on Aug. 2.

As of Jan. 26, the dashboard showed 5,622 students and 1,347 employees have been diagnosed with the virus. Those totals are a more than 100% increase in cases among students and a more than 91% rise among employees since Jan. 7.

RISD put a mask mandate in place for all students and staff Aug. 17. The district then made masks optional at junior highs, high schools and the district’s central office buildings Nov. 3. It initially started the second semester on Jan. 4 without a mask requirement for elementary school before announcing the temporary requirement on Jan. 7.

The district website also states RISD has suspended third party COVID testing on Monday and Wednesday mornings due to supply chain issues.

COVID-19 testing is available throughout North Texas. In Richardson, there are numerous test sites that offer both drive-thru and walk-in appointments through local pharmacies and clinics. An interactive map of the available testing sites in Richardson and the surrounding area can be found at this link.