Dear East Longmeadow School Committee,

We call on you, the educational leaders in our community, to  protect our children from COVID-19 as they return to in-person school this fall. It is imperative to require universal masking in schools as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Center for Disease Control (CDC).

We agree with the guidance from both the AAP and CDC that in-person learning is superior for the academic and social development of children, yet the benefits of in-person learning are only as good as our ability to keep schools open. As mentioned during the August 12, 2021 School Committee meeting, the need to quarantine students will happen. This will not result in the high-quality, in-person education that our students need.

The safe and successful use of masks allowed millions of children to safely return to in-person learning during the last academic year. As the Delta variant spreads and cases steadily increase in our town and county, masks remain integral to the layered approach to COVID-19 prevention. Especially for our children under 12, who remain ineligible for the vaccine, the only thing that has changed is that the delta variant has made COVID-19 more transmissible. This is not the time to change our mitigation strategies. 

There is literally no debate amongst the medical community as to the safest way for children to return to school. The School Committee sought the medical advice of local pediatrician Dr. Greer Clarke. Her advice was solidly in line with that of basically every physician and public health group in the country- to implement universal masking within K-12 schools. Just moments later, after less than one hour of discussion, the unilateral decision was made by the School Committee to go against her recommendation. 

We acknowledge how disappointing it is to still be in a global pandemic. Yet we must recognize the reality of our public health crisis. We must continue the layered approach that has been shown to keep mitigate school transmission rates. Otherwise school outbreaks of COVID-19 are inevitable, leading to illness and subsequent disruptions to learning. 

Please implement mandatory masks for anyone in East Longmeadow schools at this time, to be re-assessed throughout the year by looking at data and recommendations from the AAP and CDC if changes need to be made.  We need to protect our students and community.

We, the undersigned, implore our educational stakeholders to require universal masking in ELPS K-12 schools as we start the 2021-22 school year. This is for the health and safety of our entire community. We ask you to vote to mandate masks in all of our school buildings at the School Committee meeting on August 23, 2021 meeting.