Indoor masking will become optional in Hawaii’s 257 regular public schools effective Aug. 1 — a change eliciting praise from people who feel masking harms students, and criticism from other parents and some doctors who predict an increased risk of COVID-19 for children and school employees.

For now, universal indoor masking continues to be required at state Department of Education schools and facilities, while outdoor masking is optional.

But starting with the new school year, masks will become optional everywhere in Hawaii public schools and considered “highly encouraged” only when community levels of COVID-19 are “medium” or “high” by CDC standards, said Dr. Sarah Kemble, state epidemiologist with the state Department of Health.

The CDC decides on community levels based on a combination of criteria, including case rates and hospital capacity, Kemble said. As of Tuesday, Kauai County was considered at a medium level, while Honolulu, Maui and Hawaii counties were considered high.

COVID-19 community levels and masking recommendations will be conveyed through state Department of Education channels that are still being developed, with details out soon, said state schools Deputy Superintendent Heidi Armstrong. Parents can then make their own decisions on whether their children should wear masks.

Kemble also announced a coming end to any school-related quarantines. The public schools were able to end quarantine requirements for close contacts earlier this year because they have continued universal indoor masking. But for public charter schools and private schools that chose to make indoor masking optional, a quarantine of five days has been recommended for people in close contact with a COVID-19 case.

However, starting Aug. 1, the Health Department’s school guidance will no longer call for any quarantines, Kemble said.

Kemble said the changes are appropriate now because “the COVID landscape has changed, we’re at a different trajectory in the pandemic,” with the wide availability of vaccines and boosters, high levels of immunity from vaccines and natural infections, and relatively lower incidence of critical illness. “This is an opportunity to move forward toward a new normal,” Kemble said. “We think this is the right time to do so.”

“Targeted” indoor masking still will be recommended in some situations, though, Kemble said. “For example, if there’s a cluster in a specific classroom, we’ll recommend that everyone in that classroom wear masks for the duration of exposure and the quarantine period after that.”

While detailed guidelines won’t be published for a couple more weeks, Kemble said officials decided to announce the change now “because we hope this will help parents, students and educators make decisions, like getting vaccinated now, before the school year begins.” About 73% of students ages 12-17 have received their first two shots, but only 26% have received boosters, she said.

Armstrong said the DOE welcomes the guidance changes. “We really are looking at trying to move towards a more normal classroom experience this fall,” she said. She added that any student or employee who chooses to continue to wear a mask indoors “will have that choice absolutely respected.”

The masking change was cheered by leaders of the nonprofit organization For Our Rights, which had threatened a legal challenge to the indoor masking rule. Some members have protested at the DOE state office building and testified loudly at state Board of Education meetings, saying that masks cause psychological damage to children.

“Putting the choice back in the hands of the parents is long overdue and we do believe the Department of Health made the right call in advance of the filing of our lawsuit,” Levana Lomma, CEO and president of the group, said in an emailed statement.

However, leaders of the Hawaii State Teachers Association said they are concerned that indoor masking is being ended before air quality has been assessed and addressed in all 12,000 of the state’s public school classrooms. “In order for universal (indoor) masking to be lifted, all of the other mitigation strategies need to be in place, in order for us to keep educators and students and our communities safe,” Logan Okita, HSTA state vice president, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

Okita, who is a reading teacher at Nimitz Elementary School, said she will continue to wear a mask as often as possible, because she needs to protect the health of her grandmother at home. “I’m concerned about keeping my students safe and keeping my family safe.”

Dr. Scott Miscovich, president and CEO of Premier Medical Group and a practicing family physician, also argues that indoor masking shouldn’t be dropped when there has been a shortage of classroom air testing and the DOE hasn’t been transparent about results.

He also said the guidance changes “couldn’t be at a worse time,” given the current surge of the BA.2 variant of the coronavirus, and the rise of the BA.5 variant, which appears to be better at getting around people’s immune systems.

Meanwhile, DOE Communications Director Nanea Kalani said in an emailed response to questions from the Star-Advertiser that the department already has made “significant investments to improve indoor air quality to mitigate the risk of exposure to COVID-19 in public schools.”

She said the DOE since 2020 has obtained for the public and charter schools more than 4,200 high- efficiency particulate air, or HEPA, air purifiers; 650 carbon dioxide sensors; 12,000 box fans; 53 base stations and 396 sensors to establish a pilot remote- sensing dashboard at select schools; and thousands of filters and hundreds of rolls of duct tape to convert 1,800 box fans to Corsi-Rosenthal box air cleaners. The DOE also issued a policy in 2020 on opening windows and proper use of heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems, she said. The DOE is also conducting facilities assessments “using trained technicians and engineering teams,” Kalani said.