MILWAUKEE— After initially planning to begin the 2021-2022 school year with mask wearing being optional throughout the Oshkosh Area School District, the administration changed course several days ago to now require masks in school buildings.

"We've had a lot of feedback, all of which we've responded to and taken seriously," Dr. Bryan Davis, superintendent for OASD, told Spectrum News 1. "It comes down to what we're seeing from a data standpoint. When we were making our earlier decision and decided to look at our face masks as optional, we were looking at some data points in June and July which were looking very favorably."

The move to require face coverings brings OASD in line with the current CDC recommendations to mandate masking for students and teachers across the country to start the new school year.

"The bottom line is we need to make sure our kids are able to be in school, so if we need to use face coverings in order to do that, so be it," Dr. Davis added, acknowledging the administration could ease masking rules ahead of October if the data supports doing so.

The first day of class is set for next Wednesday, September 1. 

You can watch the entire interview with Dr. Davis above.