August 7, 2021
On August 2, 2021 the Arkansas Arts Academy Board of Directors voted to follow
our mask policy from the 2020-2021 school year if ACT 1002 was repealed.
Although Act 1002 has not been repealed, on August 6, 2021 Pulaski County
Judge Tim Fox barred authorities from enforcing Arkansas’ ban on mask
mandates temporarily until a full trial can be held on the legality of Act 1002.
Due to the injunction on the enforcement of Act 1002, and our desire to protect
all students K-12 from the highly contagious Delta variant, I will request our
school board move to mandate masks for all students, staff and school visitors at
the August 10, 2021 board meeting. Recommending we return to the 2020-2021
mask policy until given further guidance from the Arkansas Supreme Court.
In addition, because the CDC states that vaccination is the leading public health
prevention strategy to end the COVID-19 pandemic we are hosting another
vaccination clinic on August 20, 2021 from 9 a.m.- 12 p.m. at the high school.
Debbie’s Family Pharmacy, will administer Pfizer vaccinations to any interested
staff, students or parents. To receive the vaccine, a consent form must be filled
out and turned into either Nurse Katie (K-6) or Mrs. Morgan (HS) by Friday,
August 13, 2021. Students will be called out of class and parents will be contacted
and given a time to report. Another clinic will be scheduled after three weeks for
the second dose. The consent form can be located at: https://www.healthy.arkansas.gov/images/uploads/pdf/Provider_Universal_COVID-19_Form.pdf Parents, please include your cell phone number on the form.
I support a mask mandate because it's essential to keeping students and staff safe
during this time. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach
out anytime.
Regards,
Dr. Allison Roberts
CEO
Arkansas Arts Academy