FORT SMITH, Ark. — The Fort Smith school year will start off with a mask mandate for students, faculty and visitors. It will not require staff, students or visitors to wear masks during meals, outside, or other special circumstances.
On Monday (Aug.9) the Fort Smith School Board discussed whether or not to make wearing a mask indoors on-campus mandatory. By a 5 to 2 vote, the board decided that all students and visitors must wear a mask any time they are inside a school building.
On Thursday, the school board held a meeting for teachers and faculty to vote on whether they were going to be required to wear masks for the upcoming school year. The vote resulted in the mask mandate requirement for teachers to pass in 59 to 41 percent vote.
The board approved allowing Superintendent Terry Morawski to make exceptions using information and guidelines provided by the Center for Disease Control.
The board highly recommends those who are eligible to get vaccinated for the upcoming school year.
For more information about the Fort Smith Public Schools or its COVID-19 safety protocols, please visit their website.
The Future School of Fort Smith also has a mask mandate in place. The school board unanimously passed the mask requirement for faculty, staff, students and visitors must wear a mask in school buildings.