JAMESTOWN, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – The Jamestown Public School Board revisited the Health and Safety Plan, and more specifically the mask requirements.

Superintendent Dr. Robert Lech reports that their committee had drafted a Health and Safety Plan over the summer, as required before school resumed in the fall of 2020.

He added that the policies they created were based on recommendations by the North Dakota State Health Department.

Part of those recommendations were close contacts and masks. Dr. Lech says exempt students are close contacts that are not required to quarantine at home and says that change has been integral to our ability to transition back to full-time status after their hybrid model.

He says this approach of exempting students from quarantining after close contact if they met the criteria allowed them to reach the point of full-time status again.

Dr. Lech says after the return to full-time and the mask requirements, his recommendation was to keep the requirement through the remainder of the school year.

A motion from board member Aaron Roberts to remove the mask mandate for staff, teachers, and students was made. It failed on a 7 to 1 vote.

You can watch the whole school board meeting below: