District Two Updates COVID-19 Plan to Include Mask Requirement

At a special board meeting on Monday, August 30, the Sheridan County School District No. 2 Board of Trustees approved an updated COVID-19 plan that includes a mask requirement for students, staff, and visitors inside of all school and district buildings. The mask requirement goes into effect Tuesday, August 31, the first day of school for district students. The special meeting was called and advertised by the Board on Friday, August 27. The timing of the meeting was dictated by the recent, drastic up-tick in positive COVID-19 cases in Sheridan County.

“Based on the alarming COVID-19 facts shared by Sheridan County health officials, we have worked together to recommend a mask requirement to our Board of Trustees,” said superintendent of schools Scott Stults. “We have been monitoring local data closely, and COVID-19 cases have truly exploded.” The district has continued regular communication with local health officials and is tracking positive cases daily based on reports from Sheridan County, the Wyoming Department of Health, and Sheridan Memorial Hospital.

As of August 25, the Wyoming Department of Health rated COVID-19 transmission in Sheridan County as high. In addition, according to SMH officials, the hospital is currently on overflow and new COVID-19 patients are being transferred out of state. Prior to the special board meeting, the district received a letter signed by Sheridan County’s health officer. The letter, addressed to all three Sheridan County school districts, directly requests that a mask requirement be instated in schools. “It is imperative we keep our children safe and in school. The best way to achieve this goal at this time is to require face masks in Sheridan County Schools,” the letter states. The letter goes on to state that “Sheridan Memorial Hospital leadership and the providers of Sheridan Memorial Hospital Internal Medicine all support the requirement to have students and staff of Sheridan County Schools require protective face masks. Our local practicing pediatricians, Drs. Wohl, Bowers, Oss, Sanderson, and Ejtehadi, also support this recommendation.”

“Positive cases of COVID-19 are at an all time high in Sheridan County and resources are stretched thin,” said Sheridan County Public Health Nurse Debra Haar. “The situation is critical, with high rates of transmission and an upward trend throughout August.” “As elected officials, we have taken a stand to protect our students and staff,” said Board Chair Susan Wilson. “We understand that some constituents have concerns about this decision, but just as many have contacted Trustees asking for us to make the tough call to put safety first and require masks.”

SCSD2 will re-evaluate the COVID-19 plan every two weeks across the school year. “The district will continue to base all recommendations and decisions on guidance from local health officials and data provided by the county, state, and hospital,” said Stults. “Our goals are simple,” said Stults. “First and foremost, it is our responsibility to keep students and staff safe. That’s the bottom line. It is also essential that we keep schools open as we strongly believe that in-person instruction is paramount for our students’ social and emotional wellbeing and academic success. In addition, we need to allow our working families to be at work so our economy can continue to thrive.”