CONWAY, Ark — The Conway School Board announced that masks are no longer required for students and staff, a decision that's effective Oct. 18.
Officials said that masks would still be optional for Conway Public Schools' students and staff that wish to wear one.
The decision comes following as the Arkansas Supreme Court decided at the end of September against a statewide mask mandate ban for schools and other government bodies.
The mask mandate ban was met with mixed reactions from public officials in the state as Gov. Asa Hutchinson shared that he regretted his decision to sign the law in the first place.
Since the Arkansas Supreme Court's ruling over 100 school districts and charter schools allowed masks enforcements, with the requirement covering more than half the state’s public school students.
We're now couple of months into the school year and some school districts in the state have rethought their mask requirements, with some swapping from requirements to making them optional, and vice-versa.
School districts like Lonoke's have based their mask requirement policy on the number of current COVID cases and quarantines.
Other school districts, such as Searcy and Bryant, have adopted that same mask requirement policy.