CHICAGO -- Chicago Public Schools (CPS), the third largest school district in the United States, lifted mask mandate and introduced a mask-optional policy beginning Monday.

But there are "certain situations" when students and staff members will still be required to wear a mask, including when visiting with the school nurse or other medical professionals in the school building, when exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms, and following exposure to the virus. An entire class may also be required to wear masks, "at the direction of Chicago Department of Public Health," Chicago Tribune reported on Monday.

In a letter to parents Friday, CPS CEO Pedro Martinez reminded student families that beginning Monday "all CPS schools will move to a mask-optional model."

"Far fewer people are getting sick, ending up in the hospital, and losing their lives to COVID-19," the local newspaper quoted Martinez as saying. "However we feel about masks, I think we can all agree that this is positive progress."

Martinez said CPS was one of the first major districts to require universal masking, and one of the last school districts to relax the mandate. "We will continue to follow the science, and CPS may require masks again if community transmission reaches a moderate or high level."
Students arrive at Rogers Fine Art Elementary School in Chicago, the United States, on March 14, 2022. (Photo by Joel Lerner/Xinhua)

The vast majority of schools in U.S. Midwest state of Illinois ended masking requirements late February following Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker's halting of the school mask mandate, as well as prompted by new federal guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But CPS had continued its mask mandate due to an agreement they'd reached with the Chicago Teachers Union following five days of canceled classes in January, after union members declined to teach in person due to safety concerns.

CPS families are divided on the newly introduced optional mask requirement. Some disagreed with the decision out of safety concern, while others have applauded the easing of restrictions in light of the new federal guidance.