Some school districts to keep mask requirement for now

Several of Garland County’s public school districts indicated they did not have immediate plans to stop requiring students and staff to wear a mask after Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced the state was dropping its mask mandate immediately on Tuesday.

Hutchinson said “common sense” will govern the decision to wear a mask in Arkansas, shifting the onus from the mandate he imposed through executive action last summer to individuals and businesses.

See today’s COVID-19 update on Page 3A for complete details.

“We are going to continue to uphold the current expectations of our students and staff regarding the mask,” Fountain Lake Superintendent Michael Murphy said. “I have to do further study to determine if the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) guidelines have been lifted, then we can loosen our restrictions.”

Fountain Lake will not immediately stop what they are doing because it has effectively protected students and staff so far this year, he said.

“We currently have a survey out to our faculty and staff. We are sending a survey out this afternoon for our parents and community members to get some feedback from them,” Cutter Morning Star School District Superintendent Nancy Anderson said, noting they will use the data from the survey to make a decision.

It requires school board action to make any changes to the district’s ready for learning plans, she said.

“Once I’m able to get that data and from our faculty and staff, and students and parents, then we will be able to make a better decision on if we will continue and stay the course as we have all year, or if we will make changes to our ready for learning plan,” Anderson said.

Brian Bridges, Lake Hamilton School District communications and public relations coordinator, said the possibility of the mask mandate ending was discussed during the superintendent’s briefing at the March board meeting.

For many reasons, it was recommended that LHSD continue all of its COVID-19 safety precautions through the end of the school year, he said.

“Our school board will consider an official mask policy during their April school board meeting,” Bridges said. “Until that time, our district will continue our current practice of requiring teachers, students, and visitors to wear masks in all schools, in district facilities, and continue social distancing.”

The CDC “released updated guidance stating proper mask-wearing may now prevent individuals from being identified as close contacts in K-12 schools that have implemented

a mask mandate,” Lake Hamilton said in a posting on its Facebook page Tuesday shortly after Hutchinson’s announcement. “This means that if both individuals at school — the person diagnosed with COVID-19 and the person exposed to the positive case — have masks on and are wearing them correctly, the individual exposed does not need to quarantine. Arkansas Department of Education Secretary, Johnny Key, announced (Tuesday) that Arkansas schools will follow the updated guidance released by the CDC. The updated guidance will have a significant impact on reducing the number of students who must quarantine and will serve as an additional incentive for proper mask-wearing,” the post stated.

“We will have a reduction in the number of students who are going to be quarantined as long as students are wearing their masks properly,” Bridges said.

“We look forward to meeting virtually with our Trojans Ready for Learning Committee tomorrow to discuss the change in a state mask mandate and other guidance announced by Arkansas officials earlier (Tuesday),” Hot Springs Superintendent Stephanie Nehus said.

The committee is composed of Trojan parents and staff members that work closely with the district in the fall to develop the Trojans Ready to Learn Plan, as well as the COVID-19 protocols that served the district well during the school year, she said.

“We will look at the data and trends regarding COVID-cases and COVID-quarantines within our district from the school year, and consider input from our staff and committee members to make a plan for the HSSD moving forward,” Nehus said. “The safety of our students and staff members remains our top priority.”

“I believe that decisions like this should be able to be made at the local level, without the government imposing that on us. I think that’s kind of what’s been done. I’m not saying that not wearing a mask is a good idea or wearing a mask is a good idea, but the decision to do so, I believe, should be left to local districts,” Anderson said.