The Wichita (Kan.) school district will require masks indoors starting next week for everyone three years old and older.
The district decided to impose the requirement because more than 3% of students are in quarantine less than two weeks into the school year, reports the Wichita Eagle.
Wichita, the largest school district in the state, joins several other large Kansas school districts that have required masks since the start of the school year.
The school board voted for the mandate after Superintendent Alicia Thompson said 1,612 students, or 3.4% of the district enrollment, were in quarantine because of close contact with Covid-19.
Thompson said 194 students and 51 staff members have tested positive for the virus, according to district data.
The district’s remote instruction program is not available to students this year, after the state legislature and education department decided to limit the amount of time students receive virtual instruction.
