All students and staff at Center Grove schools must wear masks starting Monday, according to an email sent to parents Thursday evening.
School officials made the decision due to changes in guidance at the local and state levels, according to the email.
“As we have shared previously, our goal is to keep our students in school in person,” the email said. “After consultation with the school board, district leadership has determined the best option to meet that goal is to require masks, so that we can dramatically reduce the number of students required to quarantine.”
The Johnson County Health Department last week encouraged schools to follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state guidance.
The CDCÂ advises a mask requirement for all students and staff regardless of vaccination status.
Gov. Eric Holcomb last week issued an executive order giving schools two options. One option eliminates the need to quarantine students in classrooms if everyone is wearing masks. The other increases the radius for quarantines from three to six feet for classrooms if masks are optional.
Center Grove last week had 667 students in quarantine and isolation, according to the email.
“We anticipate, based on prior years’ data, that number would increase dramatically if we were to move to a six-foot quarantine radius,” the email said.
Center Grove school board members last month voted 4-1 to adopt the county health department’s previous guidance that said masks should be mandated at schools where at least 2% of students are out due to positive COVID-19 tests. About 300 people filled the Center Grove High School cafeteria during that meeting to argue for and against mask mandates.
Mask mandates were also in place on Friday at all Greenwood schools, and some Clark-Pleasant, Franklin and Indian Creek schools.
