Many school districts in southern Oregon plan on following mask mandate

SOUTHERN OREGON — Governor Brown is encouraging schools to follow the state’s rules and require masks in the classroom this Fall.

She says she’s been hearing some districts plan to defy the state and risk heavy, daily fines.

The Medford, Central Point, Ashland, and Grants Pass School Districts all tell NBC5 News the current mask mandate will be enforced.

Three Rivers School District Superintendent, Dave Valenzuela, says his Josephine County district is also following the mandate.

He, like the other school districts, says they will do what it takes to keep everyone safe from the more contagious Delta variant.

“In Josephine County, we’re seeing a lot of cases and so, anything we can do to keep our school doors open wide and for as long as possible, we’re exploring things, so we can return safely to school,” he said.

Phoenix-Talent, Rogue River, and Klamath Falls City School Districts didn’t respond to my requests for comment.

The Klamath County School District says it won’t comment on whether or not it’ll be following the state’s classroom mask mandate until later this week.

More than 121,000 child COVID-19 cases were reported in the past week across the U.S., according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

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