USD 470 School Board members discuss masks and COVID-19 precautions with Cowley County Public Health Officer Thomas Langer via Zoom during a special board meeting Monday night.
The Ark City USD 470 Board of Education approved a temporary mask mandate for staff and students, regardless of vaccinations status, effective Wednesday during a special meeting Monday night inside the Avery Learning Center.
The vote was 6-1.
The mandate will last through Monday, Sept. 13, which is the next regularly scheduled school board meeting. Then, the board will revisit the mandate.
In the meantime, district administration and nurses will work on a modified plan to be reviewed and acted upon during the Sept. 13 BOE meeting.
The meeting, which lasted two hours, was scheduled over the weekend following a surge of quarantined students since school began Aug. 19.
It was stated during Monday night’s meeting that 162 individuals within the district — a majority of which are students — were in quarantine and out of school. A district nurse said approximately 40 students were added to that list Monday alone.
The decision comes after the Wellington school district announced Wednesday it was closing schools and cancel activities — including its high school football season opener originally scheduled for this Friday against Clearwater — until Sept. 7 due to COVID outbreaks among its student and staff population.
On Aug. 9, the Ark City BOE approved a mask recommendation while the Winfield USD 465 school board voted that same night in favor of a universal mask mandate for students and staff.
However, due to pushback from a Facebook group of Winfield parents, the USD 465 BOE held a special meeting on Sept. 17 and walked back its mandate to a mask recommendation.
According to Monday’s latest report on COVID-19 by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Cowley County added 35 new cases of the virus over the weekend for a new total of 4,633 cases since the pandemic began.
Cowley County has added 244 new cases since Aug. 16.
COVID-related deaths within the county totals 116 since the pandemic began and active cases in the county currently number at or just over 100, according to an update posted by the City-Cowley County Health Department Thursday.
