By Beacon Staff
On Tuesday night (Sept. 14), the West Burlington School Board voted to institute a mask mandate for all staff and students.
The new mask policy, which resumes the school’s mask policy from the previous school year, goes into effect Thursday (Sept. 16).
The vote came in at 3-1, with board members Bruce Thuleen, Andrea Bowen and Pam Dodds voting in favor of the motion. Board member Mike Davis voted against it.
On Monday, a federal judged blocked the state law banning schools from imposing mask mandates. Other Iowa communities have taken similar action.
The school district began alerting parents about the new mandate Tuesday night via a text statement.
“The district will require masks when 3 feet social distancing cannot be maintained and in common spaces,” West Burlington Superintendent Lisa Beames said in the statement.
There is no set length for the mandate.
“This decision will be continually revisited as additional data becomes available,” Beames said in the statement.