Surrounding cities, counties, and school districts have mandated businesses, colleges, and primary schools to wear face coverings to slow the spread of COVID 19.  We ask you to enhance safety protocols in our educational community by mandating face coverings to be worn while inside buildings, as well as implementing cohorts/pods, outdoor lunch options, mandatory quarantining for close contacts, and continuing comprehensive daily reporting of cases as for Academic Year 2020-2021. Currently the Lewisville Independent School District is not requiring masks in schools, which is against the guidance of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics. A multilayered approach to mitigation will help prevent further transmission of the virus, therefore preventing unwanted illness, death, and disruption to the academic year.

The current case average in Denton county is 381 reported cases per day (8/16/2021). That is a 191% increase from the average two weeks ago. With schools having just begun in Lewisville ISD on August 11th, we can anticipate more spread.  This is where you come in. 

We know the Delta variant currently ravaging Texas is twice as infectious as previous strains — including among children — and since children under the age of 12 are ineligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, public schools are among the most vulnerable environments for viral transmission.  We have seen the uptick in cases among young people. Pediatric ICU hospitalizations in Texas have reached their highest peak since the pandemic began 18 months ago. In an area spanning 19 counties in North Texas, 150 children are on ventilators and there are no more pediatric ICU beds available to care for sick children. 

I urge you to implement these enhanced safety protocols and require parents, students, teachers, administrators, and staff to wear face coverings while inside buildings to slow the spread of COVID 19 in our schools and community.