The Pella Community School District is now mandating masks in the upcoming fall semester as students return to the building.

Superintendent Greg Ebeling says the change in policy is to better prevent the spread of COVID-19 when students and staff interact in the buildings, busses, and athletics facilities. Ebeling says recommendations from Pella Regional Health Center and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are showing increasing evidence that face masks are useful, especially when indoors and tight spaces that don’t allow for distancing. He says there will be exceptions with those who have specific medical needs, but those need to be brought to building administrators to make sure health plans can be implemented in those situations.

Ebeling says the main goal of the district heading into the school year is to have as much on-site learning as possible, and in a survey of parents, more than 90% plan to have their children coming to classes in-person. Hear more about the Pella School District’s Return to Learn Plan on today’s Let’s Talk Pella.