Schools reopen with masks optional in many US classrooms

As Tussahaw Elementary opened this week for a new school year, teary-eyed mothers led in kindergartners dwarfed by backpacks and buses dropped off fifth graders looking forward to ruling their school. The biggest clue to the lingering COVID-19 crisis was the masks worn by students and teachers — but not all of them. Georgia, like most states, is leaving it up to local schools to decide whether to require face coverings.