Mission school district students will be required to wear face masks on school buses beginning the first day of school, which is Monday, in accordance with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In a news release Wednesday, school district officials said while Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order does not permit the district to mandate masks on campuses, “the federal order requiring them for public transportation will apply on our school buses.”
This will be the case for every Mission CISD bus, and masks will be provided for students who do not have one, the release went on to state.
Buses will also be cleaned before and after each route, windows will be slightly open for ventilation purposes, and air conditioning units will use special filters in hopes of eliminating any COVID viral particles, district officials said.
“School buses are the most confined spaces our students may find themselves in,” Mission Superintendent Dr. Carol G. Perez wrote in the release. “So being able to add this additional safety measure of masks during their times on buses will help control possible exposure during those times.”
The news comes as the Rio Grande Valley experiences a surge in COVID-19 activity, with deaths, cases and hospitalizations rising day to day.
In just a week, hospitalizations in the area increased by nearly 70%, with more than 550 people in Valley hospitals at the beginning of the week.
District officials also didn’t shy from encouraging such measures to all who enter Mission CISD buildings.
“We will continue to strongly encourage everyone entering our facilities to wear a mask and will continue to work with our partners in voicing our concerns about the Governor not allowing mask mandates in schools when the use of masks has been proven effective in helping control the spread of COVID-19 and other viruses,” the release further read.
For Perez, these actions are part of the district’s commitment to keep schools safe.
“These steps are just part of the multiple layers of protocols we have in place,” Perez said. “We are committed to doing all we can to make our return to school as safe as possible. We also ask for our parents to help, by screening their children each and every morning for any signs of illness and to keep their children home if they are sick.
“Virtually everything we do as a school district takes the entire team to be successful, and this will be no different.”
