As 31 middle school students were sent home to quarantine because of COVID-19 exposure Monday, the West Central Valley School Board held a special meeting later that evening to discuss mandating face masks.

Guthrie County Public Health Director Jotham Arber explained his recommendation to the Board and others in the county that they have a mask mandate after the state changed its quarantine requirements. The Iowa Department of Public Health now stipulates that if someone in a school tests positive for COVID-19 and is in close contact with someone else, the exposed person doesn’t have to do a 14-day quarantine if both people are wearing face masks. As of Monday the District has around 80 students currently quarantined. Arber explains that having a mask mandate will help keep students in school, “I think this is a great compromise, not very many states are doing this. I think this is a middle of the ground mechanism that allows us to keep students going, but also allows us to get our transmission rates down and our positivity rates under control.”

Arber clarified to the Board that under a mask mandate, students and staff would only have to wear a face covering when social distancing is not possible with other people. He also mentioned that face coverings are not as much of a concern during activities like physical education, recess, and sports, as those involved are usually in constant motion. He did recommend that for the weight room students cohort in pods of three to four people in order to contain exposure. The Board approved a motion on a 5-2 vote to direct the co-superintendents to draft a mask mandate policy that will be brought to the Board at their regular meeting tomorrow.