A Texas school district now requires its students to wear masks after it reported that nearly 800 of its students were in quarantine after being exposed to COVID-19.
The decision comes after the Lockhart Independent School District board voted 5-2 Saturday to enforce the mask requirement inside all buildings and school buses.
In a statement, Superintendent Mark Estrada said the district currently has 204 active cases of COVID, with 181 of those cases being students.
Estrada said the district has already had to close four classes and a student program after 20% or more students were diagnosed with the virus.
"We expect there will be a need to close more classes in the coming weeks, and if any campus should reach 10% or more of students campus-wide who are diagnosed with COVID-19, the district may need to begin closing campuses as well, transitioning students to online learning during the temporary campus closure," Estrada said in the statement.
LISD isn't the first district in Texas to require everyone to wear a mask.
According to Scripps sister station KXXV, the Connally Independent School District said beginning Tuesday, masks would be required after they temporarily closedfollowing the death of two teachers who died of the coronavirus.
