Masks Optional for Staff, Students at Miller R-II as of May 1

by James McNary, Articles Editor

The Miller R-II School District is making masks optional for students and staff as of May 1. Supt. Dustin Storm cited the decreasing number of area COVID-19 cases and the opportunity that district and school staff have had to receive the vaccine have decreased the necessity of the masks over the last few weeks.

“In the past couple of months, our number of positive COVID[-19] cases have been very low,” Storm wrote in a letter sent to district patrons. “In addition, all staff members have been given the opportunity to be vaccinated, and that those staff members who wanted to be vaccinated received their second dose of the [vaccine] on Friday, April 16, 2021.”

Storm reiterated that masking procedures could be reinstated should COVID-19 cases again increase in the Miller area. Parents are asked to continue monitoring their children for symptoms daily, and to keep them home if they exhibit a fever of 100.4 degrees (F) or over, chills, a cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle/body aches, headache, new loss of taste/smell, a sore throat, congested or runny nose, and nausea/vomiting/diarrhea.

The Greenfield R-IV district decided during the April 14 meeting of the board of education to begin implementing that district’s “green” phase of COVID-19 precautions, with similar mask requirement relaxations.