Special to Iredell Free News

As a result of active COVID cases as well as close contact quarantines, five Iredell-Statesville Schools are now operating on a remote/virtual schedule. The following schools will operate on a remote/virtual schedule until Friday, September 10:

♦ East Iredell Middle School;
♦ West Iredell Middle School;
♦ Lakeshore Middle School;
♦ North Iredell High School; and
♦ Central Elementary School 

“Our number one priority is to continue with face-to-face learning,” stated ISS spokeswoman Boen Nutting.   “Sending students home will hopefully mitigate the spread of COVID and allow us to come back healthy on September 13, 2021.”

Iredell-Statesville Schools operated on an “optional mask” policy until Tuesday, August 31, when the Board Of Education mandated masks beginning on Thursday, September 2.

“We are hopeful that the mandated mask policy will allow us to get back into the classrooms and reduce the spread of COVID as well as the number of close contacts. When individuals aren’t masked or vaccinated, the quarantine rules inhibit our ability to keep kids in classrooms,” stated Nutting. “While our community is utterly divided on the topic of masks, I believe that most of us agree that students need to be in the classroom. That’s our primary goal.”