St. Paul Public Schools to drop mask mandate

Masks will be optional for St. Paul Public Schools students starting next week.

Driving the news: The city's school board voted 6-1 Tuesday to drop the district-wide mask mandate as long as case levels remain low, the Pioneer Press reports. The change takes effect Monday.

The big picture: More than 95% of K-12 school districts tracked by Burbio nationwide are no longer requiring masks.

Flashback: Just last month, the school board voted 3-2 to continue the mandate. Two members were absent at the time.

Of note: A mask mandate remains in effect for Minneapolis Public Schools.

• When asked for an update on the district's policy, an MPS spokesperson told Axios that leaders continue to meet with an "external COVID-19 Regional Support Team to create and implement a transition plan in our school district."