A western Oregon school board in a small, rural district that voted to defy state mask-wearing requirements will lose federal COVID-19 relief funds, according to the Oregon Department of Education.
Department of Education Director Colt Gill wrote to Alsea School District Superintendent Marc Thielman and board chairman Ron Koetz this week saying federal COVID-19 funding “requires school districts to comply with all state laws and regulations,” The Oregonian/OregonLive reported.
Oregon reinstated mask requirements for schools in August. Thielman, who is also running for governor of Oregon as a Republican, announced last week that the school board unanimously approved a resolution that makes wearing masks optional for staff, teachers and students, except while riding buses.
“The decision comes from the overwhelming quantitative and qualitative data and scientific evidence that masking has had little to no significant effect at slowing the spread” of the omicron variant of COVID-19, Thielman said, although health experts recommend wearing higher-quality masks, such as N95s, specifically to help stop omicron’s spread.
