North Little Rock will join dozens of other school districts across the state that will require masks for the upcoming school year.
At a special meeting Wednesday, the North Little Rock School Board unanimously approved a resolution for a mask mandate that will require teachers, students, staff and visitors to wear masks following a recommendation from local, state and federal health officials.
The mandate comes as the covid-19 delta variant has overwhelmed Arkansas hospitals, leaving few intensive care unit beds available in the state. While vaccines against covid-19 have proven to be effective, federal regulators have not given the go-ahead for inoculating children younger than 12 against the virus.
The recent surge in the coronavirus comes as the school year is about to start Monday for the North Little Rock School District.
The resolution requires masking at school, at school functions and on school transportation, stating that masks "are most essential in times when physical distancing is difficult."
The resolution has exemptions for some, including for students who are eating or drinking, have a documented medical condition or have special behavioral needs.
Teachers also can allow students to take off masks for instructional needs and activities or when appropriate social distancing measures are in place.
Students and employees who do not follow the mask mandate are subject to discipline, according to the resolution. Visitors who refuse to wear a mask will be asked to leave school property.
"Just from a public health standpoint I think we have to protect our population," said J.T. Zakrzewski, a member of the School Board.
Zakrzewski argued a mask mandate would keep schools open as it limits contact tracing and quarantines. Students wearing masks who come into contact with another student who tests positive for covid-19, but was wearing a mask, don't have to quarantine if they don't show symptoms, he said.
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"Even if I were a person who didn't think masks did any good, I would vote for this to keep the schools open," Zakrzewski said. "It is critical that we do that and we keep kids in school, because we all want that."
Gregory Pilewski, superintendent of the North Little Rock School District, said there is no timetable for how long the mandate will be in place, stating that future decisions will be made after consulting with local health officials.
"If we feel in 15 days we can now go to optional masks we will be happy to do that or we don't have to mandate masks at all," Pilewski said. "But it gives us the flexibility -- and certainly me as the superintendent to continue to monitor and update you -- and I think it's just best to not put any time frame on that."
While the school district had a mask mandate in place for the previous school year, a law passed by the General Assembly in April banned government-mandated masking in Arkansas. But Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox issued a ruling Friday blocking the state from enforcing the ban on mask mandates, freeing up school districts across the state to act.
At a meeting Aug. 4 -- before Fox's ruling -- members of the School Board lamented the state ban on mask mandates, passing a resolution that "strongly encouraged" but didn't require masking.
While required masking, especially at schools, has become a contentious issue, it is the recommendation most health professionals have recommended as the delta variant has created another surge in the coronavirus throughout the state.
Health care providers have noted under the current wave that more children have been hospitalized after contracting covid-19 along with many young and middle-aged adults -- the vast majority unvaccinated.
Cam Patterson, chancellor of the University of Arkansas School for Medical Sciences, tweeted Tuesday that schools should not open without widespread masking, vaccination and social distancing.
"Going back to school without these safeguards should not happen right now in Arkansas, full stop," Patterson said. "If we need to delay school opening to get this in place, let's do that. Otherwise some kids will die."
