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The Oklahoma State Board of Education met for a special called meeting Thursday morning to discuss the best way to go about re-opening schools across the state. With a 4-3 vote, the board opted to recommend, but not require individual school districts to follow certain guidelines such as wearing masks, switch from in-person learning to distance learning and how each school should proceed with extracurricular activities. Superintendent of Schools for the State of Oklahoma, Joy Hofmeister says she trusts local school districts to make the correct decisions, but she wants to remind everyone that things are changing rapidly.

The board did put in place a five-tier color coded system for each county, similar to the per capita system the Oklahoma State Department of Health has in place. According to the data, of the 77 counties across the state, only six of the counties fall in the lowest alert level, but no county falls in the highest alert level. Hofmeister says the goal is to get all schools in the green category because this would mean COVID-19 is on a downward spiral, but she goes through the other four tiers and what that would mean.

All tri-county area schools would fall into the yellow area, which is the second highest tier. In this case, all school districts would be expected to offer in-person learning. Masks would be required for teachers, staff members and students in the fourth through twelfth grades. Limited gatherings would also be recommended under this area.