The Dickinson-Iron District Health department on Friday rescinded the mask order that it had imposed on kindergarten-through-sixth grade schools in the two counties.
The decision was made because of language in the new state budget that prohibits local health departments from imposing such orders, or risk losing state funding. That has not been signed into law yet by the governor, and she could still veto it, but she had indicated that she would sign the legislation earlier in the week.
The health department imposed the mask mandate because of a large spike in coronavirus cases in the two counties. The Health Director, Daren Deyaert, says that masks should still be worn voluntarily, and local school boards can still require masks, as the Norway-Vulcan Schools already had done. The Dickinson County Board could also impose a mask order.
But Deyaert says that it was a very difficult decision to remove the mask order, but he can’t risk future funding for the many services that the department provides in Dickinson and Iron Counties.
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