At the November 23 Regular Monthly Board Meeting, the Maries R-1 Board of Education approved a mask mandate for all staff and all students grades 3-12.  This mandate will require all staff and 3-12 grade students to properly wear a mask when in school.  By doing this, along with the recent changes in guidance in dealing with close contact quarantine from Governor Parson, the board hopes that the number of students who are required to quarantine due to a close contact is decreased.  Data from recent months showed that we had a total of 16 positive COVID students but when considering close contact, 250 students were quarantined resulting in a large amount of lost instructional time.  The School Administaration Team and Board of Education hope that this change in policy will help shrink this problem.  Please see the attached documents for more information on the mask mandate.