Boonville Board of Education loosens student quarantine procedures

BOONVILLE, Mo. (KMIZ)

Student quarantine rules have changed in the Boonville R-I School District.

The Board of Education voted five to two at its meeting Wednesday to update the districts policy on close contacts and quarantining.

The new policy says if a student comes into contact with a positive case inside of the school, and both parties are wearing a mask, that student would still be allowed in class and would not have to quarantine at home. Families can still choose to quarantine at home if they prefer.

The policy went into effect at the time of the board's vote for a trial period. The trial will end if a student deemed a close contact while wearing a mask develops a COVID-19 infection.

At the time of Wednesday's meeting, the district had sent roughly 100 students in quarantine since the start of the year as close contacts in the school environment. Of those students, who were masked in the classroom, none of them developed COVID-19.

Some board members were worried about the new policy putting additional students at risk of the coronavirus by allowing close contacts in the classrooms.

Others though argued when a family chooses to send their student to in-person classes, they are recognizing there is always a risk their students could come in contact with the virus.

Along with the changes to quarantine rules, the district reinforced its mask requirement for middle and high school students.

While the change went into place right away, the board asked families to give the district some grace as it works out some of the finer details to get students who are currently quarantined back to school.