We, the undersigned, are asking the OESS BOE vote to keep the mask mandate in place until the end of the school year for the following reasons:

Well-fitting, properly worn masks are proven to slow the spread of Covid according to several nonpartisan organizations, such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Board of Internal Medicine, Infectious Disease Division.  The American Academy of Pediatrics specifically recommends continued masking with an emphasis on indoor masking at this time.  A December 2021 review of multiple studies on masks concluded that masking protects the wearer as well as those around the wearer, according to the Center for Disease Control.  

Right now we have infants, preschoolers, and kindergarteners in our community who rely on us to wear masks to slow the spread of Covid because they cannot be vaccinated yet. 

Only 35% of OESS students ages 5-11 are fully vaccinated, and no vaccine is yet available to our youngest community members, those under 5.   OESS teachers are 84% vaccinated, which is the lowest in the BOWA area.  

The United States has been looking to other parts of the world that are ahead of us in Covid spread.  What has been going on there?  

Denmark, which recently removed its mask mandate in public schools, is now seeing a steady rise in Covid cases–roughly 40,000 new cases each day, as you can see from the Reuters graphics here: https://graphics.reuters.com/world-coronavirus-tracker-and-maps/countries-and-territories/denmark/

Japan has identified a subvariant of the Omicron variant, as serious as the Delta variant and roughly 50% more contagious than the original Omicron variant.  This subvariant has already been identified in 74 countries and 47 states.  This new subvariant may eventually receive its own new Greek letter, but for now, we know it is resistant to several of our mitigation strategies–such as monoclonal antibodies.  Not coincidentally, Japan is seeing a huge spike in hospitalizations and deaths–and Japan has an 80% vaccination rate.  You can see the statistics in Japan here, from the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/region/japan

The combination of new variants, low vaccination rates among students and relatively low vaccination rates of teachers in OESS, and no mask mandate in OESS could have dire consequences.  With the uncontrolled spread of Covid,  OESS could see a sharp rise in absenteeism among staff, quarantining students, and be faced with the decision to either reinstitute a mask mandate or close school due to staff shortages–with no option for remote learning currently in place.  None of this is in the best educational interest of the OESS students, the ones we are trying to protect.  

Please vote to keep the mask mandate in place.  

Thank you.