BRENHAM SCHOOL BOARD TO CONSIDER LOOSENING COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS
Mask wearing may soon become optional in Brenham ISD.
The Brenham School Board will meet on Monday to consider changing the district’s COVID-19 protocols, including possibly removing the mask requirement and altering close contact procedures to make quarantining voluntary if people who are exposed are asymptomatic.
Superintendent Dr. Tylor Chaplin said school health officials recently had conversations with Washington County Health Authority Dr. William Loesch on the current state of COVID-19 cases locally. Dr. Chaplin is recommending that masks be made optional, as he believes the school district is in a good position to do so safely.
This proposal comes two months after Governor Greg Abbott ended statewide COVID-19 restrictions and mask mandates. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) said shortly after Abbott’s announcement that local school boards had the authority to maintain or modify their mask policies. At that time, Dr. Chaplin said the school district intended to keep current protocols as they are. Other school districts around the state have since lifted their mask requirements, while Burton ISD plans to address the matter at its own school board meeting this month.
As of today (Saturday), according to Brenham ISD’s COVID-19 dashboard, there are ten active COVID-19 cases within the district.
Also at Monday’s meeting, the board will:
- Select a canvassing board for the results of the May 1st trustee election.
- Hear updates on the 2021-22 budget and on school health and safety.
- Go into executive session to consider teacher contracts and employing a principal at the Early Childhood Learning Center.
- Go over investment training, including a resolution regarding review of the investment program and possibly adding and removing representatives to the Lone Star Investment Pool.
The board will meet Monday at noon at the Brenham ISD Administration Office. The meeting will be livestreamed on Brenham ISD’s YouTube channel.