On Thursday, August 12, the Decatur High School administration announced that the school mask supply would not be used for students who don’t bring their own mask.

According to Principal Rochelle Lofstrand, student mask compliance has steadily decreased since the first day of school. “Fewer and fewer kids were bringing their own masks, and they were depending on us to supply them every day,” Lofstrand said.

According to the newly implemented guidelines, the first time a student wears a mask incorrectly, they will be reminded by a teacher. If this happens again, the teacher will contact the student’s guardians and an administrator will get involved. Each of these steps includes a teacher reminding the student how to properly wear a mask or giving the student a better-fitting mask. If the student continues not to wear a mask properly after an administrator gets involved, the student will be referred to in-school suspension.

“At school, teachers are frequently reminding students to keep their masks on and wear them properly,” Harper Joyce, a sophomore at Decatur High School, said.

The Decatur school system is supplying all teachers with a box of disposable masks in their classrooms to ensure the mask mandates are followed while students are in school.

“I wanted people to get out of the habit of just being supplied one every day,” Lofstrand said. She added that she did not want students to stress if they forgot a mask. “Our supply is [for] if [a student] forgets it, it breaks, you know, things like that,” Lofstrand said.

The district recently placed an order of 500 masks to distribute throughout the school. They will be accessible in the nurse’s office and Student Center for anyone who needs one.