Amarillo ISD Board Votes to Lift Mask Mandate

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Amarillo Independent School District Trustees voted 4-3 this week to lift the district’s mask mandate next month during a meeting on Wednesday.

In a split vote, the school board voted to make masks optional for students in pre-k through fifth grade on Monday. The vote also allows AISD’s district-wide mask mandate to be lifted in its entirety by May 17.

Trustees Doyle Corder, Alonzo Everhart, Dick Ford, and David Nance voted for the change to the mask policy, while Trustees Kimberly Anderson, Robin R. Malone, and Kayla Mendez voted against the change.

A second item was also passed on Wednesday to make masks optional for staff members and teachers at AISD elementary campuses and Lorenzo de Zavala Middle School. That item passed 5-2, with Anderson and Malone voting against the measure.

AISD’s decision follows a recent vote by the Canyon ISD Board of Trustees to lift their district’s mask mandate. That decision was finalized last month in a 4-2 vote by the CISD Board.