The Boston public schools superintendent detailed the district’s plans to return students to the classroom this fall, including confirming that all students and staff will be required to wear masks while inside school buildings and during transportation this fall.

“Vaccines are the best way to protect ourselves from COVID-19, and masking is also an important prevention tool we must use,” Boston schools superintendent Dr. Brenda Cassellius said in a letter to the school community.

“We know that our students age 11 and under cannot yet be vaccinated and for ages 12 to 15 only 18 percent in the city of Boston are vaccinated right now. For ages 16 to 24 only 52 percent are vaccinated,” her statement said.

Cassellius said the school district does not plan to mandate physical distancing in schools this fall.

She cites CDC guidelines in her reasoning.

“The CDC guidance states that physical distancing is one health and safety strategy, but if it is not possible to fully reopen schools while maintaining physical distancing, students should still learn in person and school districts should use other prevention strategies, like indoor masking, frequent hand-washing, and good indoor ventilation,” Cassellius said in the statement.

The news that masks would be required in Boston’s public schools was first announced by Boston mayor Kim Janey on Thursday, the same day Massachusetts’ governor Charlie Baker said his administration has no plans to implement such a mandate statewide.

Janey’s decision is consistent with this weeks’ recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatrics, which suggested everyone over the age of 2 should wear masks in the upcoming school year, regardless of vaccination status. The AAP noted that “a significant portion of the student population is not yet eligible for vaccines.”

“As folks know, there are a number of children who still are not eligible for the vaccine,” Mayor Kim Janey said about the reason for her decision. “And so children are currently wearing masks as they are in summer school and in different programs throughout the city. And, this fall, they will be wearing masks still.”

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The most recent guidance from the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education encourages, but does not require, masking during summer school. DESE’s current guidance indicates all health and safety recommendations will be lifted for the upcoming school year.

A dozen Democratic lawmakers wrote a letter this week encouraging Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration to require students and staff through the sixth grade to wear masks, but the governor told reporters Thursday that the state does not plan to change its current recommendations.

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“We don’t have plans to change our current policies with respect to school in the fall,” he said. “I think what’s got to be the rule of thumb here is that people make decisions based on the current state of play with respect to the virus in their states, and we’re in a very different place than most other parts of the country.”

The State House News Service contributed to this report.