Masks will continue to be required at Mount Vernon schools and activities until May 28, the day after school is out.
The school board, in a 40-minute special meeting Monday night attended by seven to eight residents, voted unanimously (6-0; Jeremy Kunz absent) to adopt superintendent Greg Batenhorst’s recommendation to continue the mandate put in place at the beginning of this school year.
“With just two weeks remaining in the school year, I did not feel it was the appropriate time to adjust protocols that have been in place throughout the school year” Batenhorst said in a letter to the community about his recommendation.
The end of the school year is a more natural transition point, he said.
Lisbon’s school board was slated to meet Tuesday, May 18, to discuss masks.
Before making his recommendation, Batenhorst reviewed recent guidance from the Iowa Department of Public Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Linn County Public Health.
“It’s pretty much a 50/50 issue (residents for and against the mandate) and has been since last summer,” Batenhorst said. “But everyone on both sides has been respectful.”
District mask mandate remains until end of school year
Ann Gruber-Miller
[email protected]
May 18, 2021