Following Gov. Greg Abbott’s announcement March 2 that Texans will be able to use their own judgment regarding wearing facemasks and social distance, schools locally and all around the state are examining how to handle mask mandates for the rest of the 2020-2021 school year.
Texas Education Agency in amending its policy still touts the benefits of wearing facemasks as a method of preventing the spread of COVID-19, but places the decision on managing facemasks with each district.
This includes Dublin and Lingleville ISD, who will be researching the best options for each campus and deciding in upcoming meetings.
Dublin ISD Superintendent Rodney Schneider reported that the district’s medical response team is meeting at the end of spring break this week and next week.
“We’re going to use the rest of the spring break and see what other people are doing,” Schneider said, who added that the administration, school board and medical response team will examine options and “do what is best for our kids.”
Lingleville ISD Superintendent Curt Haley said the LISD School Board will discuss safety guidelines in their next regular meeting on March 18 at 8 p.m. in the school library.
Haley said that the district has been gathering information, surveying the feelings of its faculty members and that the leadership team got together and evaluated several options.
“We are going to get all the information together for the board to make the best possible decision for the community,” Haley said, who stated his appreciation for Erath County’s handling of vaccination. (The county delivered its 3,000th vaccine at the beginning of the month.)