Ash Grove School District increases masks, decreases quarantine time

Board votes for bond refinance; Stockton joins SWC
 
The Ash Grove Board of Education, in an effort to cut back on student and teacher COVID quarantines, voted 6-0 to require students at Ash Grove Elementary to wear masks while on campus.
Prior to the vote, only district students in the high school, junior high and grades fourth through sixth at Bois D’Arc, were required to wear a face covering.
At the recommendation of the Greene County Health Department, and thanks to the K-12 mask mandate, the district will now only require positive tested students to quarantine, and not those who were in contact with positive cases.
The new rule, however, doesn’t include pre-kindergarten students who might not be old enough for masks.

Also during the meeting…
It was announced that school board candidacy filing would begin Tuesday, Dec. 15, and end Tuesday, Jan. 19. There will be two seats open in the April election, one currently held by Board of Education President Bill Duncan, the other by Vice President Jeremy Willmon. No word yet if either will be running for re-election.

Bond refinance...
Representatives from LJ Hart presented information to impress upon the board to refinance a school bond. The board agreed, by a vote of 6-0, in the absence of board member Matthew Hancock, giving the firm the underwriting privilege, and the green light to market the bonds.

In other news…
It was announced that the Stockton School District will be joining Ash Grove and seven other schools in the Southwest Conference starting in 2021.