Franklin schools is joining Center Grove, Clark-Pleasant and Greenwood schools in requiring masks for all students and staff.
The requirement will take effect Monday, and applies to all students, staff, visitors and volunteers, said David Clendening, superintendent.
The mandate follows recommendations from the Johnson County Health Department, Indiana Department of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Franklin school board members voted 4-0 in favor of the plan during a special outdoor meeting Friday afternoon. Board member Bryan Wertz was absent.
With the change in guidance, students will no longer have to quarantine if they’re a close contact of someone with COVID-19. Also, asymptomatic students who aren’t out due to a positive test can return on Monday. There were 74 students in quarantine on Friday, according to school officials.
The ability to eliminate the need to quarantine for close contacts was a driving force in officials’ decision to move to a mask mandate, Clendening said.
“Our numbers are very good. We’re seeing a decline in COVID positives, but we’re seeing a lot of kids miss school. Kids have had multiple quarantines already,” he said.
This school year, more than 700 students have had to stay home at one time or another due to being a close contact of a COVID-19 case, Clendening said.
One parent in attendance questioned the need for a mask mandate when looking at Franklin schools’ data. As of Friday, all Franklin schools had less than 1% of students out due to testing positive for COVID-19, according to district data.
Parents who are displeased with the mask mandate can reach out to the county health department, Clendening said.
“People ask us medical questions and we say, ‘we don’t know,’” he said. “We’re trying to make this situation work for our school district. People will be frustrated on both sides.”
If Johnson County moves back to “yellow” on the state health department’s COVID dashboard, indicating a reduced level of spread, school leaders would consider removing the mask mandate, Clendening said. The county is in “orange” right now.
“We’re looking forward to the day COVID-19 is not even in the conversation,” he said. “Today is not that day.”
