The Bigfork School District Board of Trustees voted Wednesday night to extend the district’s mask mandate through April 9 after the teachers union expressed concerns over an earlier decision to lift the rule at the end of this week.
The trustees voted 6-0, with one abstention, to continue requiring masks in school buildings based on the recommendation of the board’s three-person bargaining committee, which had met with union leaders Monday night. The board previously voted 4-3 to end the district’s mask mandate effective at the end of the school day on March 12. That decision was made against the advice of almost every high-ranking district employee, including Superintendent Matt Jensen, and sparked at least one district staff member — Director of Technology Beau Wielkoszewski — to resign.