Schools become pressure points for mask usage after Ducey removes mandate
(The Center Square) – Gov. Doug Ducey removed mask mandates in Arizona schools last month, allowing school districts to decide on the issue. Since then, school districts have seen pressure to either follow suit or keep their kids masked.
Prescott area schools rescinded their mask mandate shortly after Ducey’s announcement. Days later, the Prescott Unified School District changed course, reinstating the mask mandate after six students tested positive for COVID-19. According to the Arizona Republic, this prompted about 100 students and parents to march to the district office in protest, carrying signs with messages such as “Let me smile, no masks.”
Dozens of mask mandate protestors interrupted a Vail Unified School District meeting at the end of April. The hearing was canceled after attendees became unruly, forcing the board to leave. With members absent, protestors held unofficial elections and voted to remove the mask mandate. The Arizona School Board Association condemned the protest and upheld mask mandates in Vail for the remainder of the school year.
Vail Superintendent John Carruth said in a statement that “a new board needs to be voted through a due elected process of the voters of this community. That did not happen last night.”
Though many school districts are upholding mask mandates for the remainder of the school year, Mesa Public Schools are easing mask requirements while strongly recommending their use.
Arizona Great Hearts Academies, a charter school chain in Arizona and Texas, dropped mask requirements. Likewise with Pima Unified School District in southeastern Arizona.
Several schools have said they would revisit their mask policies over the summer.
A spokesman for the Arizona Department of Health Services told the Arizona Republic it would continue monitoring public health recommendations.
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