After more than a year of not seeing each other’s smiles, things will now be somewhat back to normal within the Sedona-Oak Creek School District.
During the meeting Tuesday, June 1, the SOCSD Governing Board voted unanimously to lift the district’s mask requirement for students and staff effective immediately.
Those attending summer school will have the option of wearing a mask as they will when school starts later this summer.
“The majority of our staff has had the vaccine and now a number of students are getting vaccinated,” Superintendent Dennis Dearden said during the meeting. “As mayors, including ours, have lifted the mandates in cities, we just feel it’s time to make masks optional. We had students wearing them today [first day of summer school]. That is fine. They’re just doing what they have been doing — they’re used to them. We want to make them optional but with the caveat that if things change, we can come back to the board and say, ‘We’re going to again mandate masks if we have to to keep people safe.’”
The following day, Dearden said in terms of athletics, masks for athletes will also be optional for summer workouts.
Since there are no Arizona Interscholastic Association sports in the summer, he feels this issue may not be addressed by the state until the fall sports seasons are ready to begin.
In April, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey issued Executive Order 2021-10, which rescinded his Executive Order 2020-51 from July that had mandated kindergarten to 12th-grade schools in Arizona require students, staff and visitors to wear face masks to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Ducey’s April order left the decision about masks and other precautions up to local school districts.
“Ducey’s order simply places the decision-making authority regarding COVID-19 safety strategies requirements in the hands of local school boards,” Dearden wrote in a letter to parents at that time.
“The physical health, mental well-being, and safety of your children and their dedicated teachers and staff are our highest priority. At this time, we will continue to implement our board-approved COVID-19 mitigation plan, which includes the wearing of masks by all students, staff and visitors in our schools through the end of the school year.”
