ELKINS -- Students and staff members no longer will be required to wear masks at Elkins schools starting today.
The School Board made that decision Monday in a 5-0 vote, according to Superintendent Jeremy Mangrum.
The district surveyed its employees and found 64% were in favor of making masks optional, Mangrum said. In addition, the district has not had a covid-19 case among its 167 employees and 1,250 students since Feb. 22, he said.
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Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced March 30 that he was lifting the statewide mask mandate for almost all public places. Education Secretary Johnny Key directed school boards to decide to continue, modify or discontinue mask mandates in the schools and to post those decisions on district websites.
The Bentonville, Fayetteville and Rogers school districts all have opted to stick with mask requirements for students and employees. Springdale is requiring masks indoors and on buses whenever 6 feet of distancing isn't possible, but masks are not required outdoors.
Gentry, Gravette and Prairie Grove school districts have lifted their mask mandates.