Douglas Schools to require masks beginning next week

BOX ELDER, S.D. — Due to an increase in COVID-19 cases, the Douglas School District will be returning to Phase 2 of their coronavirus plan beginning next week.

This comes after the COVID-19 positivity rate among students and staff combined rose above the 1.5% threshold. Phase 2 requires masks in all district buildings, buses, and indoor extracurricular activities. Everyone is asked to provide their own mask.

Students are encouraged to mask on Friday, January 14, but the district will not require it until students return next week on Tuesday, January 18.

“In order to stay open, to keep our kids learning, we are just adding a mitigation effort because we think it gives us a better chance of keeping kids healthy and keeping our staff healthy,” says Katy Urban, Communications Coordinator at Douglas School District. “It gets hard to continue the learning process if we have a lot of staff out so we’re just trying to be proactive and do what we can to stay open.”

So far, Urban says they’ve been able to fill most of their staff absences. District administrators will reevaluate COVID-19 cases in two weeks to determine if the district can return to Phase 1.

More information on case counts in the district can be found by clicking here.