The Adair-Casey and Guthrie Center school districts currently have different approaches to using face masks since the state changed guidelines on quarantine requirements based on mask usage.

The Adair-Casey School Board unanimously approved at their October 20th meeting to enact a temporary mask requirement that took effect this past Monday. The Guthrie Center School Board decided at their October 19th meeting to do further research on the topic, and during a joint board meeting held on October 22nd a motion failed to enforce a mask mandate. Superintendent Dennis McClain comments on the two districts having varying mask policies as families having students that attend multiple buildings may pose a concern, “Obviously it would probably be nice to be consistent but they are separate buildings and it’s no different than going into one business that requires it and then walking down the street and walking into another one that doesn’t so we’ll just adapt to it. We haven’t had any issues at AC with the difference and we’re still encouraging students at Guthrie Center to wear them whenever they can’t be six feet apart. So we’re still encouraging students to do that even though it’s not a mandate.”

Adair-Casey’s mask requirement is in effect until “the Governor of Iowa lifts the COVID-19 pandemic” or the Board deems it appropriate to do so. You can find a link to the policy here.