Nassau County

Nassau County School District makes changes to face shields policy

YULEE, Fla. —

Parents and students in Nassau County may have noticed a change to the school district’s face-covering policy.

Starting Tuesday, students who wore only face shields will now be required to bring a mask.

Action News Jax Alicia Tarancon looked into how the change will keep COVID-19 cases from spreading.

Jim Donoghue, a Yulee father of three, told us the district reached out to parents last week.

“Everybody got a voicemail that they changed their policy,” Donoghue said.

When the reopening plan was put in place, the district wanted to give students the option of wearing a mask or a face shield, but has since learned that face shields alone don’t offer as much defense.

Chad Neilsen, the Director of Accreditation and Infection Prevention at UF Health Jacksonville, said face shields can help protect you but not others.

“It really shouldn’t have been a this or that. It should have been a you must still wear the surgical mask and you can wear the face shields if you like,” Neilsen said.

The district said the change does not mean that students will be required to wear their masks at school all the time.

It said there will be times when students can take off their masks, as long as they can safely social distance from one another.

The district said the change in its face-covering policy will help keep the coronavirus from spreading in their schools.

“If they’ve got something on to keep it from spreading around, sneezing, whatever. It’s probably better,” Donoghue said.

Nassau County schools said this change also applies to staff members, and if any parents have questions they should contact their student’s school.

This change does not affect students who were exempt from the mask rule due to medical reasons.