Rutherford County’s mask mandate ended at 12:00 a.m. on Monday, March 15, 2021. The County Board of Education will be meeting at 5 p.m. tonight, March 18, to discuss, among other topics, the renewal versus termination of mask requirements in elementary through high schools.  

Voting about mask requirements will likely take place at a separate board meeting in the future. 

In addition, this can still be attended in person with appropriate masks and social distancing guidelines. 

Recent K-12 school guidelines published by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention include frequent hand washing, social distancing, contract tracing, isolation and quarantine if necessary, cleaning of health facilities, and a correct, universal use of masks. 

On February 26, 2021, the CDC stated, “The most effective fabrics for cloth masks are tightly woven such as cotton and cotton blends, breathable, and in two or three fabric layers. Masks with exhalation valves or vents, those that use loosely woven fabrics, and ones that do not fit properly are not recommended.” 

Read CDC guidelines and safety measures here. 

Some of the topics on the meeting agenda include: 

• Mask mandate discussion 
• Vote to remove the previously agreed-upon one-year suspension of foreign exchange student enrollment, put in place due to COVID-19 
• Motion to replace Kiddom with a program called “Schoology” as the main learning management system for the 2021-2022 school year 
• Renewal of Zoom purchase for the 2021-2022 school year 
• Vote for RCS Virtual School to offer athletics starting in 2021-2022 through an athletics co-op agreement with Central Magnet School 
• Plan to offer grades 3-12 through RCS Virtual Schools program for the year of 2021-2022, if approved by school board 

The meeting agenda can be read in full here.

Rutherford County’s Board meeting can be viewed live through cable access to RCTV or on Youtube.