Bonners Ferry schools mandate masks after 4 positive COVID-19 tests

The Boundary County School District is moving ahead with in-person learning despite four cases of COVID-19 and the subsequent quarantining of 60 students at Bonners Ferry High School.

However, in a message to families issued Monday morning, the district mandated that all students, staff and visitors must wear masks.

Until this week, the district had merely “requested” that students wear masks or shields.

The message also urged students and staff to follow standard protocols, including social distancing, frequent hand-washing and other common precautions.

“First and foremost, we continue to place the safety and health of our students, staff, and community members as a priority,” the message said.

On Sept. 15, the district reported that two students had reported positive for COVID-19, leading to the quarantining of 40 people.

On Friday, it reported two more positive tests and added 20 people to the list. All are at home and learning remotely.

The district has not stated if the two latest cases are staff or students.

Neither Superintendent Jan Bayer nor high school principal LaGina Brown responded to phone messages left Monday.

The district serves about 1,500 students, including the 475 who attend the high school located in the northernmost county in Idaho.