Richardson ISD Institutes Mask Requirement On January 10
RICHARDSON, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - Richardson ISD said on Friday, Jan 7 that it would be implementing a three-week mask requirement for all students starting Monday, Jan 10.
The announcement came as COVID-19 rates skyrocketed over the previous week, including at RISD where they reached pandemic-high levels.
Active positive cases in RISD have risen from 49 on Dec 7 to 1,089 on Jan 6, a more than 2100% increase. The district has reached a new pandemic-high number of positive cases each day since returning from winter break. The previous pandemic-high number of positive cases in RISD was 367 on Sep 3.
The district said that by Jan 31, the end of the three week period, it would reassess pandemic conditions and determine whether to continue the universal mask requirement or return to a more targeted approach.
"This decision was made because of an unprecedented rise in positive cases among students and employees," Interim Superintendent Tabitha Branum said. "We continue to focus on the goal of keeping our schools open for in-person teaching and learning, and this is a necessary step if we hope to keep our students learning in school."
The district asked parents to monitor their children for symptoms and to keep them home if they're ill. RISD offers two sites for no-cost COVID-19 testing as well, and recommends that students get vaccinated if able.
More information about active positive reported cases can be found on the RISD COVID-19 Notification Panel.
