ISS School Mask Requirement To Be Decided In Emergency Meeting

IREDELL COUNTY, NC — The Iredell-Statesville Schools Board of Education is holding a meeting Wednesday to consider masking requirements in schools, it announced.

"This is an emergency called meeting. The purpose of the meeting will be for the board to have a presentation on Iredell-Statesville Schools' recommendation regarding masking for the 2021-22 school year," the school district said Tuesday in a statement.

School districts around the Charlotte metro and throughout the state are rushing to firm up masking requirements for students and teachers before classes resume next month. The first day of school for ISS students is Monday, Aug. 23.

SEE ALSO: CDC To Recommend Mask-Wearing Among Vaccinated: Report

Last week, Gov. Roy Cooper and DHHS Secretary Mandy Cohen unveiled the state's new guidance for North Carolina schools rooted in continuing its focus on face coverings as a means to slow the spread of COVID-19 in the state. The guidance calls for mandatory face coverings in all K-8 schools, and among unvaccinated students and teachers in high schools.

The statewide school policy guidance was issued as COVID-19 cases have risen sharply in the past week, largely spreading among unvaccinated residents.

SEE ALSO: NC Makes Decision Regarding School Mask Policy For Upcoming Year

Late last month, ISS issued a statement saying it did not "anticipate any statewide mandate that students wear marks during the 2021-2022 school year," but that if one were put in place, it would grant documented good faith religious exemptions or exemptions for medical or behavioral reasons.

The ISS Board emergency meeting is set for 10 a.m. on Wednesday, July 28 at the Career Academy & Technical School, located at 350 Old Murdock Road in Troutman.

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