(La Porte County, IN) - The first day of school is today at the La Porte and New Prairie School Corporations.

Here in La Porte, masks for students and teachers inside school buildings are strongly recommended but mandated. Masks are mandated, though, on school buses because of federal guidelines, said La Porte Community School Corporation Superintendent Mark Francesconi.

Francesconi said the COVID-19 strategy could change at some point depending on case numbers and any mandates that might be coming from the state or federal governments. But, for now, he said the goal is to have as much normalcy as possible.

“We feel good about taking steps to normalcy but not, necessarily, giant leaps,” Francesconi said. Francesconi said an effort would be made to ensure that students whose parents want them to wear a mask use facing coverings.

Masks are also optional in the New Prairie School Corporation.