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With masks already optional in the district’s facilities, the Beaufort County Schools Board of Education voted Tuesday to also make them optional on school buses.

The school board had kept masks mandatory on buses because the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidance at the height of the pandemic required everyone to wear masks on public transportation. On Friday, the CDC announced that masks would no longer be required on school buses.

The move to make masks completely optional comes amidst a push from state officials for all schools and local governments to end any mask mandates they have in place.

“We are taking a positive step on mask requirements to help us move safely toward a more normal day to day life,” Gov. Roy Cooper said in February. “It’s time to focus on getting our children a good education and improving our schools, no matter how you feel about masks.”

Beaufort County’s COVID-19 statistics have fallen sharply after spiking amid the Omicron variant outbreak in January. The county’s seven-day average case rate is 11.6; that number exceeded 200 during the Omicron surge.