We are families and citizens who are concerned about our children’s lives in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The highly transmissible Delta variant, Texas has now surged to a COVID-19 positivity rate of nearly 12% (https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/region/us/texas.com. 

These already detrimental rates are projected to continue rising even more. Our Hays  Students K-12 are returning to school in a few days for the start of the Fall semester. Since Texas schools aren’t allowed to require masks, our children and staff are at a heightened transmission risk. We need to protect our most vulnerable populations. Sending children back to school without sound mitigation measures in place could lead to an even higher positivity rate, long-COVID cases, elevated hospitalization rates, and more deaths as well as school closures and interruptions in our children’s education. 

As of July 28, 2021, the CDC recommends the following for “Guidance for Fully Vaccinated People”:
“universal indoor masking for all teachers, staff, students, and visitors to schools, regardless of vaccination status. Children should return to full-time in-person learning in the fall with proper prevention strategies in place.”

The American Academy of Pediatrics also recommends:
“universal masking because a significant portion of the student population is not yet eligible
for vaccines, and masking is proven to reduce transmission of the virus and to protect those
who are not vaccinated.”

Current vaccines do not fully protect people against the Delta variant, and fully vaccinated people can still transmit the virus, and especially Delta. Children under the age of 12 cannot yet receive the vaccine. In addition, the vaccine hesitancy rate in Texas is high, and our state lags behind many others in its rate of fully vaccinated residents.

The best way to protect our children, teachers, and staff is by masking. Merely encouraging masking or urging “personal responsibility” is insufficient as there will surely be plenty of kids and adults who will choose to not mask, putting their fellow community members, including the immunocompromised, at risk.

 We urge  you to implement mask mandates for our schools and follow in the footsteps of Dallas ISD, Austin ISD and Houston ISD. No family in Hays should have to choose between their children’s health or their education. 
Sign this petition!