(Photo by Jon Cherry/Getty Images)
PHOENIX — Some Valley school districts have decided to require masks as the school year begins amid rising cases of COVID-19 in Arizona.
The law banning schools from requiring masks was passed in June as part of a state budget bill but that doesn’t go into effect until Sept. 28.
The bill included a clause to make the mask provision retroactive to June 30, but it’s not clear whether it’s enforceable yet.
Gov. Doug Ducey responded to a mask mandate at Phoenix Union High School District and said it isn’t allowed, but he hasn’t responded to questions about potential enforcement steps.
“School administrators should be doing everything they can to encourage eligible students and staff to get vaccinated, not break state law,” Ducey spokesman C.J. Karamargin told KTAR News 92.3 FM last week.
No COVID-19 vaccines have been authorized for use in the U.S. for kids younger than 12.
Despite the messaging from Ducey, multiple schools have enacted a mask mandate, including the Tucson Unified School District, the state’s second-largest district.
Here’s the latest on which school districts in the Valley are mandating face masks, with links to announcements where available:
The Washington Elementary School District and the Phoenix Elementary School District are also requiring masks but with an option to opt-out.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its recommendations last week that even vaccinated people should return to wearing masks indoors, including students returning to class, in parts of the U.S. classified as having substantial or high transmission of the virus, which applies to most of Arizona.
COVID-19 cases are on the rise fueled by the more transmissible delta variant of the virus.
Daily reported cases of the virus have been in the thousands after not seeing numbers that high since March.
COVID hospitalizations have more than doubled in Arizona in the past month, with unvaccinated people accounting for nearly all of the serious illnesses and deaths.
This list will be updated as more information becomes available.