FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The Fayetteville Board of Education voted unanimously to revise its mask policy and immediately remove the mask requirements.
"The steady downward trend in new positive cases is very encouraging," said Superintendent John L Colbert. "I am very grateful to our students, staff, and parents for their commitment over these many months to do whatever is best for the health and safety of everyone at school."
The decision comes as the CDC is excepted to ease its mask requirements nationally for most indoor places Friday, Feb. 25.
The school board voted to remove the requirement for wearing face masks by all students, staff members, and visitors while in any school building, indoor facility, or other indoor areas of a school campus.
The CDC mandate still requires masks while riding on district transportation. Policy 1.19: Wearing Masks and Face Coverings was amended to strongly recommend that face masks continue to be worn while attending school or a school function in indoor areas.
"We understand that COVID will continue to be with us and that we must move from a pandemic mindset to an endemic mindset. We believe that removing the mask requirement while still strongly recommending masks is a good step in that direction," said Nika Waitsman, President of the Fayetteville Board of Education.
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