By: Jonathan Cooper
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. -
Governor Kevin Stitt made big changes to Oklahoma’s quarantine guidelines for students, with the goal of keeping more kids in the classroom, but other state leaders have voiced their concerns.
The changes come as the state surpasses 2,800 total deaths with the state reporting 29 new virus-related deaths Tuesday.
State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister is critical of the governor's new guidelines, saying that while she agrees in-person school is critical, COVID-19 is still rampant in the state.
"The ramifications of the pandemic on education have been challenging and severe. While this option underscores the need for mask requirements in school, I cannot in good conscience support ignoring quarantine guidelines from the CDC and other infectious disease experts. There is no doubt we all want our students and teachers to be safely in the classroom, but COVID is raging in Oklahoma. In-person instruction is critical, and so is mitigating the spread of the virus. They are not mutually exclusive."