EASTHAMPTON — All students, staff and visitors at Easthampton Public Schools will be required to wear face masks for at least the start of the academic year.

“My ultimate goal is to keep schools open and to keep everyone safe — to keep children safe, and to keep adults safe,” Superintendent Allison LeClair said at a School Committee meeting last week, “and that was the thinking behind the recommendation that I have for you this evening.”

The committee unanimously approved the plan at the meeting.

The regulations were announced as COVID-19 cases are on the rise in the city, particularly among the unvaccinated.

Though unvaccinated individuals are still at the highest risk for infection and severe illness, cases among vaccinated residents have also been on the rise. In the most recently reported cases in the city, 50% were among vaccinated individuals, though the city’s public health nurse, Amy Hardt, noted in a report to LeClair that this statistic is “not a reason to not get the vaccine.”

“In the cases that I’ve just relayed to you, the illness has not been as severe as it would have been if the individuals were not vaccinated,” LeClair said.

In Easthampton, 21 COVID-19 cases were recorded from Aug. 4-10, according to the city’s COVID-19 dashboard. Among the total population, 67.8% have been fully vaccinated, while an additional 7% have been partially vaccinated. Of the 1,060 total cases recorded by the city to date, 13% have been among vaccinated individuals.

The mask requirement is also intended to protect those who cannot receive the vaccination, such as children under 12, and immunocompromised individuals, who may not be able to generate sufficient antibodies even if they are fully vaccinated.

“Many in our school community have valid reasons to mask … and we do not want to create an equity issue,” LeClair said. “People may have compromised immune systems, or someone in their family might be immunocompromised, so we don’t want to create a situation right off the bat where some children might feel bad because they have to mask, because it may be beyond their control.”

Among recent COVID-19 cases in the city, 25% were among children ages 5-12.

City data shows that 59% of 12- to 15-year-olds are fully vaccinated in Easthampton, and 72% of 16 to 19-year-olds are fully vaccinated.

Though the state does not plan to track COVID-19 cases in schools going forward, Easthampton Mayor Nicole LaChapelle said that the city will continue to track its own numbers using Massachusetts Virtual Epidemiologic Network data.

In all schools, “we will be striving for 3-foot distancing whenever possible,” LeClair said, and the district will continue to participate in a pooled COVID-19 testing program using state and federal funds.

Students will eat lunch indoors, though an outdoor option will remain in place, and extracurricular spaces such as the gymnasium, art rooms and music rooms will also reopen to students.

At the elementary level, kidney-shaped tables for reading and group work will once again be in use, though for the most part, students will remain seated at individual desks.

After a nearly all-remote school year in 2020, the district will not offer a remote option this year based on state guidelines.

The city’s plan will be updated in accordance with new information and COVID-19 data, LeClair said.

“As new information becomes available, we are continuing to watch the science, the trends,” LeClair said, noting that school officials will “adjust accordingly” to this information and review data with the city’s Health Department on a monthly basis.

The city developed the plan in collaboration with Board of Health Director Bri Eichstaedt, public health nurse Amy Hardt, Easthampton Education Association President Shawn Sheehan and various administrators.

The district also drew from recommendations by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics, LeClair said, which “have both come out and recommended universal indoor masking for all teachers, staff, students and visitors to k-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status.”

Students will return to school on Sept. 1.