One day after announcing that the Indiana Senior High School was requiring masks for all its students due to high Covid-19 numbers, Indiana Area Superintendent Michael Vuckovich announced mask mandates will go back in place for the Junior High School, East Pike and Horace Mann buildings until the end of the week.
According to the Indiana School District Dashboard, the Junior High-Eisenhower combined student bodies and staffs have 13 student and three staff cases of Covid-19 on their rolling 14-day count. Eight students and two staff cases of Covid-19 were reported for East Pike Elementary. Those totals put those two schools in the “high” category in the district’s health and safety plan. Horace Mann’s count is currently four students and two staffers, but because of the lower building population, that puts them in the “substantial” category.
As of this morning, the only school in Indiana School District that is not requiring masks at this time is Ben Franklin Elementary, where they have two students and one staffer on the rolling 14-day count, putting them at the “moderate” level.
Students in the schools affected by the mandate will be required to wear masks regardless of vaccination status. The only students precluded from wearing masks are those who previously submitted medical excuses.
Vuckovich stressed in his letter that there are no intentions to close the school buildings at this time, but should a closure become necessary, “students will receive their instruction synchronously from their teachers and more information would follow at that point.”
