All of the Verde Valley’s school districts are opting to maintain their current mask policies at this time as they wait for the dust to settle following a judge’s ruling that the Arizona State Legislature’s law ban on mask mandates violated the Arizona State Constitution.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Katherine Cooper ruled that provisions that had been included in the 2021- 22 Arizona budget that prevented schools from requiring masks among other measures was against the state constitution on Sept. 27, just days before the rules would have gone into effect on Sept. 29.

Cooper did not rule on masks themselves, but rather that four bills signed into law were unconstitutional because the titles of the laws did not reflect their content, violating Article IV, Section 13 of the constitution.

In anticipation of the state laws and the mask ban going into effect, the majority of school districts in Arizona have chosen to keep mask-wearing optional for the entire school year thus far.

On Sept. 29, the Arizona legislature asked the Arizona Supreme Court to block the ruling and allow the ban on mask mandates, which the court rejected. However, the court is now considering the legislature’s request to bypass the Arizona Court of Appeals and take it straight to the high court.

Because of the uncertainty of what the future holds, local school districts are choosing to wait and see how the appeals process pans out before making any immediate changes to their COVID-19 mitigation plans.

• “What we’ve been advised to do is wait and see,” Sedona-Oak Creek Unified School District Superintendent Dennis Dearden said. “We don’t want to get in a situation where we’re bouncing back and forth on these issues …. We’re not going to enforce it at this point until we figure out what the next court ruling is going to do.”
• Mingus Union High School District Superintendent Mike Westcott said his district is also standing by to see how the court rules before taking action.
  He said the Governing Board does not currently have a specific agenda item dedicated to discussing the mask mandate situation, though it may come up at the next governing board meeting if a board member wishes to discuss it.
  “A board member or two might bring up the ruling, but there’s no indication that we’ll be considering any change to what we’re doing now,” he said. “But of course that’s board action, so you never know.”
• Cottonwood-Oak Creek School District Superintendent Steve King said their district does not currently intend on updating its mitigation plan either.
  “Cottonwood-Oak Creek School District will continue with its current proactive mitigation plan and continue to work closely with Yavapai County Community Health Services and our school Health Advisory Team,” he said.
• Camp Verde Unified School District’s Interim Superintendent Steve Hicks said they also do not anticipate any changes to their current policies, though they plan to continue monitoring the situation as it develops.
  He also said should they decide to consider a change to their mitigation plan, they would first want to consult parents, students and other community members.
• “Were we to be considering a mask mandate or any major change, we would certainly seek stakeholder input,” he said. “We try to respect each of the varying opinions in our community and allow options in mitigation efforts. We believe in-person learning is most effective in educating our students and hope to continue this effort while ensuring the safety of our students, staff and community.”
• Requests for comment from the Clarkdale-Jerome School District were not returned by press time.