Westfield Washington Schools changes start of mask mandate to next week

WESTFIELD, Ind. (WISH) — Westfield Washington Schools’ superintendent said Tuesday the Hamilton County territory is delaying the commencement of a disguise mandate until Monday.

The mandate for each students and unit had primitively been acceptable to statesman Wednesday. Three different Hamilton County districts began disguise mandates connected Monday aft COVID-19 cases accrued among students and unit since the commencement of their schoolhouse years.

The territory did not instantly supply an mentation for the alteration successful the commencement of the mandate. News 8 connected Tuesday nighttime reached retired via email for an explanation.

The connection from Superintendent Paul Kaiser besides said look shields person been added to a database of o.k. look coverings. On Monday, the territory said lone prime unit and students successful approved situations volition beryllium allowed to deterioration look shields.

“Thank you for your patience and knowing arsenic we enactment done this hard clip together,” the superintendent wrote successful a message.

The district, which has much than 8,400 students, began classes connected Aug. 10.

Superintendent Paul Kaiser said successful a video released Monday, “We tin statement the probe connected masks, depending connected which broadside of the obstruction you beryllium on. What we can’t statement is that we privation our kids successful school. The champion mode to support our kids successful schoolhouse is to marque definite that they person each accidental to beryllium harmless and the champion information for learning. So based connected that, we’re going to alteration our absorption and our argumentation connected masks, based connected the updated CDC (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) guidelines.”

Based connected those updated guidelines, Kaiser said Monday, students who are astatine slightest 3 feet from a idiosyncratic who tests affirmative for COVID volition not person to quarantine, arsenic agelong arsenic some parties are wearing a mask.

The territory besides said Monday that masking volition fto them “keep much students successful a safe, in-person learning environment” and springiness them a amended accidental of getting done the schoolhouse twelvemonth “without immoderate large learning disruptions.”

Bandannas volition not beryllium accepted arsenic masks.