On Monday, September 27, a judge rejected Doug Ducey’s proposal to ban schools from mandating masks, which was set to go into effect on September 29. Despite this action by the court, few school districts have instituted mask mandates as a result.
Today, most schools in Arizona do not require masks to be worn, however, they now have the option to implement a mandate if they feel one is needed. With the cold season coming up, many different viruses are going around in schools such as the flu and the regular cold in which people could see a major outbreak. With students possibly having to skip school because of it, schools might have to enforce stricter regulations to contain the spread of COVID-19.
“I feel like Ducey’s proposal makes sense, but it’s within the schools rights to do whatever they want because depending on the location in the state, I feel like different COVID restrictions apply,” said Connor Lund, a senior.
According to the Los Angeles Times, at least 29 public school districts had defied the laws and enacted their own mask requirements. Many people believed that mandating masks was against the constitution and the people’s rights.
In a recent board meeting for the Cave Creek Unified District, angry parents expressed their beliefs on mask mandates.
Each school’s decision ultimately comes up to the governing board and whatever new rules or mandates created that are put in place by them have to be followed. If not, students may be forced to go back online or find a different school that has different restrictions.
“They were talking about putting it back on the agenda and it’s not even an agenda item again with our governing board,” said Sarah Barela, principal.
As of now, there is no plan to put in place any mask mandates even though the district still has the option to enforce one.