AACC students who are taking in-person classes this semester said they wouldn’t mind if some students didn’t wear masks around campus.

 In an informal poll of 30 students on the Arnold campus, 26 said wearing a mask on campus should be optional.

 “Masks have their benefits for health reasons,” second-year business student Christian Nazareno said. “[But] I wouldn’t care if someone chose not to wear it.”

 Although Anne Arundel County lifted its mask mandate on Feb. 22, AACC President Dawn Lindsay said last week that college officials make their own decisions about face coverings and have “relied heavily” on Centers for Disease Control guidance. The CDC on Friday dropped its recommendation that had called for wearing masks indoors.

 The college has not yet announced if it will lift its mask mandate in response.

 The college is offering approximately 43% of in-person classes this semester after being mostly virtual since March 2020 because of COVID-19.

 “It’s a personal choice,” Madison Weinstein, first-year psychology student said. “[Students] who choose to wear masks for health reasons should [continue to] until they feel comfortable removing it.”

 Bella Boethinger, a second-year cyber security student, said the college should require masks only in classes with more than 30 students.