Lita Nadebah Beck | Arizona Republic

Phoenix Union High School District will require masks to be worn indoors when students head back to school next week — despite an Arizona law that bans mask mandates.

Citing the spread of the delta variant of the coronavirus and updated federal health guidance, the district said students, staff and visitors must wear masks, regardless of vaccination status.

“Recently, we have heard from our staff, students, and families that they want us to realign our mitigation practices with the guidelines and recommendations of national and local health agencies,” the district said in a statement.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday updated its recommendations on masks, advising universal indoor masking for all teachers, staff, students and visitors inside schools from kindergarten to 12th grade, both vaccinated and unvaccinated.

The Arizona Legislature passed a law this summer that prohibits school districts from requiring masks or vaccinations.

The Governor’s Office did not immediately comment on Phoenix Union’s mask policy, saying it wanted to review the district’s statement first.

Phoenix Union High School District’s 22 schools has nearly 30,000 students and more than 4,000 employees.

Classes start Aug. 2.