MESA, AZ — Arizona's largest school district, Mesa Public Schools, is increasing its mitigation measures to try and slow the spread of COVID-19 on school campuses.
The governing board Tuesday night shared their updated plan, which includes increased handwashing protocols, no out-of-district field trips for K-6 grades, reinstating directional hallways and daily health attestations for staff. The district will also be bringing back its COVID dashboard for the public, which will be updated daily.
The district currently "strongly recommends" masks for students and staff but will be requiring masks on buses. The updated plan also says schools would move into "required masking for entire population" for 10 days if 3% of a school's population is positive for COVID-19.
Since the new school year started on August 3, there have been 568 confirmed cases in students and 94 among staff members. More than 1,800 students have been on "close contact quarantine," and nine classrooms/programs have been quarantined due to outbreak status.
