ELKINS -- Students and staff members no longer will be required to wear face masks at Elkins schools starting Friday.
The School Board made that decision Monday in a 5-0 vote, according to Superintendent Jeremy Mangrum.
The district surveyed its employees and found 64% were in favor of making masks optional, Mangrum said. In addition, the district has not had a covid-19 case among its 167 employees and 1,250 students since Feb. 22, he said.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced March 30 he was lifting the statewide mask mandate for almost all public places. Arkansas Education Secretary Johnny Key directed school boards to decide to continue, modify or discontinue mask mandates in the schools and to post those decisions on district websites.
The Bentonville, Fayetteville and Rogers school districts all have opted to stick with mask requirements for students and employees. Springdale is requiring masks indoors and on buses whenever 6 feet of distancing isn't possible, but masks are not required outdoors.
Gentry, Gravette and Prairie Grove school districts have lifted their mask mandates.
In other news from the Elkins board meeting, employees will get raises in the 2021-22 school year.
The board approved adding $1,100 to the base of its salary schedule for teachers and other certified employees, an increase of just over 3%, according to Mangrum. Classified staff members also will receive raises of 3%.
The raises, when combined with automatic increases employees get each year, will add an estimated $330,000 to next year's budget, Mangrum said.
The move will raise the district's minimum teacher salary from $35,150 to $36,250. The state's minimum teacher salary is $33,800 this school year and is set to increase to $34,900 for 2021-22.
This is the third straight year Elkins employees have received raises, Mangrum said.