The Broken Arrow Public Schools will start the school year in person on August 19.

All staff and students in the third grade and up will be required to wear masks as part of the reaction of the coronavirus pandemic. Students who don’t want to attend in person have the option of signing up for Broken Arrow “virtual academy.”

Younger students are exempt from the masks because medical personnel advised the district that the lung capacity of those students makes them less of a threat to pass along the virus.

The Oklahoma Department of Education has not ordered school districts to implement distance learning but they are letting each district decide whether students will be on campus or not. According to a Broken Arrow survey, most people preferred children to be in the schools.

The temperature will be scanned of anyone who visits the schools but students won’t be scanned.