A booklet aiming to inform children about the coronavirus was edited to recommend masking before it was distributed to the state's elementary schools, Arkansas Education Secretary Johnny Key said Tuesday.
On Sunday, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported that the state used federal coronavirus relief funds to purchase booklets about the coronavirus from a company -- Everbright Media -- co-founded by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and planned to do so again with an updated version of the guide for this school year. The 2020 deal was first reported by national news website The Daily Beast.
The Democrat-Gazette article referred to a version of the booklet available online that did not recommend mask-wearing. Key said that version was not the final version that was distributed to schools in August 2020.
"The actual final document that went out to children and to the schools clearly said face masks are now recommended as a way of reducing the spread of coronavirus," Key said at Gov. Asa Hutchinson's weekly coronavirus news conference Tuesday.
Key said the state Department of Education had started on the project in April 2020, and there were a number of changes in guidance between then and August.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called on Americans to wear masks to prevent covid-19 spread in July 2020, citing in a news release two studies showing the effectiveness of cloth masks.
Key added that the department would update the document on its website.