HULBERT — A third Oklahoma public school district is now requiring masks on campus in defiance of a new state law.
As first reported by the Tahlequah Daily Press, Hulbert Public Schools’ Board of Education voted Wednesday night to require every student and employee regardless of vaccination status to wear masks on campus unless they are eating or are able to maintain social distancing.
“It’s important for parents to understand that it is our intention to have in-person learning five days a week and to help mitigate the spread, obviously, so that we can continue to do that throughout the entire year,” Superintendent Jolyn Choate said.
On Monday, the Cherokee County district announced that its middle school and high school would temporarily switch to distance learning after seven individuals tested positive for COVID-19, prompting 154 people to quarantine due to close-contact exposure. Secondary students are scheduled to return to campus Friday.
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Hulbert Elementary School has remained open. Located 10 miles west of Tahlequah, the district started the 2021-2022 school year on Aug. 12.
“As a former math teacher, the numbers are very loud and concerning when you’re looking at this contagious, infectious virus,” Choate said. “It can’t be something we overlook or don’t do something about.”
According to a letter dated Thursday addressed to Hulbert parents, the district’s plan includes provisions for students who are unable to wear masks for medical reasons. Beyond that, the letter states that families who want to opt-out of the mask requirement for personal reasons are asked to switch to the district’s virtual option.
Oklahoma City Public Schools and Santa Fe South Charter Schools previously announced that they would require masks on campus. Given that Gov. Kevin Stitt praised the Oklahoma City district for including an opt-out provision with its mask mandate, Choate initially said she did not expect any criticism from his office for enacting a policy that also included opt-out language.
However, both the governor and his newly appointed attorney general, John O’Connor, issued statements Thursday afternoon blasting the district’s decision.
“It is disappointing that one school district has chosen to openly violate a state law that was supported by 80% of the Legislature,” Stitt said in a statement. “The goal of SB658 was to ensure every student in Oklahoma could go to school in person and parents retained the fundamental right to make health care decisions for their children.
“To be clear, no parent is banned from sending their child to school with a mask and no school may mandate masks or vaccines. I will always stand up for parents’ right to decide what is best for their child.”
Choate declined to respond to the governor’s criticisms.
In light of the school district’s decision, the Cherokee Nation donated 16,200 masks to Hulbert Public Schools and announced Thursday afternoon that it would donate surgical masks to any school district that receives a portion of the tribe’s car tag funds and enacts a mask mandate.
The tribe is requiring masks at its immersion school and Tahlequah Sequoyah and operates personal protective equipment manufacturing facilities in Hulbert and Stilwell.
“We want to support the 107 school districts we work with in making the right decision, and, plainly, the right decision based on public health, based on the science, when you strip away the politics, is to have a mask mandate to protect kids, staff and the larger community,” Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin said.
“Whatever we can do to support that, we want to do it. It’s the right thing to do.”
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