• The following update was shared via email and voice call to all district parents and staff on August 31, 2021:

    Due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases within the District and in accordance with new DHEC guidance regarding the definition of “close contact,” which would require more students to quarantine due to exposure to COVID if students are not wearing masks and/or face coverings, on Monday, August 30, 2021, the York School District One Board of Trustees voted on three separate mask requirements for students on buses, and visitors, and for students and staff while in district facilities. These actions are being taken as a measure to keep as many students in school for face-to-face instruction as possible.

     

    First, the Board voted unanimously to uphold the South Carolina State Department of Education’s August 27, 2021 directive imposing a mask requirement on all school buses, effective immediately. 

     

    Further, the Board voted unanimously to require all visitors to wear a mask and/or face covering when inside District-operated facilities, effective immediately. 

     

    Finally, the Board voted unanimously to impose a mask requirement for all students and staff in the District, effective September 1, 2021.  Students are encouraged to wear their own masks; however, the District will provide one to them if they do not have one. No student will be turned away from school if they do not have on a mask. No state funds are being used to enforce this mask requirement. The District’s 2021-22 In-Person Operational Plan will be updated to reflect these changes and circulated later this week. 

     

    The Board of Trustees will take this matter up again at the October 12, 2021 board meeting to determine whether the mask requirement will be extended.