Due to the rising number of positive cases of COVID-19 in Sanborn County, the Woonsocket Community and the Woonsocket School, the Woonsocket School Board determined a need to meet in a special session to discuss some of the rules in place or needing to be changed.

On Tuesday, Nov. 24, the board met with some school staff present to voice their opinions on a couple of the rules changing. Also present was Raleigh Larson, school nurse in the Huron School District. Larson presented information about how a mask mandate has been working well in Huron, which has helped their school district to keep their number of positive cases down. They have been enforcing a mask mandate since the first day of school, and it has kept their numbers very low. 

It was decided that, for the health and safety of the students and staff, it would be best to implement a school-wide mask mandate to hopefully keep the spread of the virus at a slow pace. The decision was not an easy one to make, but the board decided that, in order to be proactive in doing what is needed to keep the school open, this was the best step to take at this time. All the school staff who were present at the meeting were in favor of the mandate. The motion to implement the mandate passed with a unanimous vote of 4-0. They are going to keep the mandate in place until Christmas break and then re-evaluate the situation at that time. 

…Read more about the meeting in this week’s issue of the Sanborn Weekly Journal!