West Ada schools let parents opt out their kids from mask mandate. Here’s how many did
About 29% of students in the West Ada School District have been excused from the district’s mask requirement.
Char Jackson, the district’s chief communication officer, told the Idaho Statesman as of about 2 p.m. Friday that 11,685 opt-out forms had been submitted.
West Ada, Idaho’s largest school district, has more than 40,300 students, Jackson said.
The district has been collecting the forms over the past three days, after trustees on Tuesday night approved a new reopening plan mandating masks for students and staff, but giving parents the option to opt out their kids.
The board’s decision came after a more than five-hour meeting that included 90 minutes of public comment, where trustees listened to parents and students speaking on both sides of the issue.
Mask mandates have stirred tension in the district for months.
A large group of parents has been fighting for the district to make masks optional, saying they have the right to decide what safety protocols their kids follow and citing the low mortality rates for kids who get the virus. On the other side, parents who have been fighting for a mandate have argued masks will help keep their students and the community safer — especially for students who are too young to get vaccinated.
West Ada is one of several school districts in the state that have been reconsidering and revising their reopening plans as Idaho experiences a surge in COVID-19 cases and health officials warn about the spread of the more transmissible delta variant.
The Boise School District earlier this month passed a mask mandate and the Caldwell School District this week announced masks would be required in Caldwell High School and two elementary schools for about two weeks.
This story was originally published August 27, 2021 at 4:33 PM.
