Arizona Department Of Health Services: Schools In 4 Counties Are Safe To Offer Some In-Person Instruction
The Arizona Department of Health Services says it is now safe for schools in Apache, Greenlee, La Paz and Yavapai counties to offer some in-school instruction, but it’s not mandated.
Ritchie Taylor with the Arizona Department of Education says the non-mandatory option is by design.
“What we heard from our stakeholder conversations over the summer with school leaders is they wanted to have flexibility to work with their communities, and that's where that was born out of,” Taylor said.
If schools were to be opened, the Department of Health Services expects masks on students and staff, symptom screenings and enhanced cleaning protocols. There would be no field trips, communal lunch rooms, or large gatherings.
Health officials also suggests keeping the same group of kids together in order to mitigate a possible outbreak of COVID-19.
Specifics beyond that are left up to the individual districts, including whether or not to open.
