WASHINGTON COURT HOUSE, Ohio — The city school district in Fayette County is the latest school in the area to mandate mask-wearing for students and staff.
Washington Court House City Schools Superintendent Dr. Tom Bailey made the announcement on Thursday.
“We came back to this school year hoping that we could get through the pandemic and through the severity of everything that was going on this past school year,” said Bailey. “However, it’s quite evident with things happening around our area and school districts around us who are starting to go remote, and we do not want to get to that place for our kids.”
Bailey said, “I committed to keeping our students in-person learning one hundred percent of the days this school year, and because of that I feel it’s necessary that we go back to a mandated mask protocol for all of our faculty, staff, and students when we are in the buildings.”
If a student refuses to wear a mask, the school reserves the right to issue consequences to any student who does not follow any school rules, Bailey said. If a student continues to refuse, the district will provide an accommodated space for them in order to keep the rest of the students safe and not risk any exposure to the rest of the student body, he said.
Currently, the city schools do not have a virtual option to offer internally, as it creates significant staffing issues for in-person students, the school said. Parents always reserve the right to enroll their child in an online charter school or open enrollment to another district if they so choose, Bailey said.