“We the undersigned have been carefully monitoring the new Delta variant of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially as it relates to an increase in the measurable effects it has on children (see “COVID-19 in Children: Time for a New Strategy” by Mary Louise McLaws published in 2021 by WHO Health Emergencies Programme, Ad-hoc COVID-19 Infection Prevention and Control Guidance Development Group).”1

It is requested that the Lebanon Community School Corporation Board of Trustees and Dr. Jon Milleman, LCSC Superintendent, reinstate mask mandates for the district.

Currently, there is no mask mandate for LCSC. The School Board of Trustees and Dr. Milleman have left the decision to parents whether or not they want to send their children to school wearing masks. With no mask mandate in effect and contact tracing in full swing, there have also been a record number of absences for students in our district. 

“In addition, the science on mask-wearing has received more robust research and disciplinary conversation by scientists in the past year and a half than it has since masks were first implemented in the early 20th century. The science is clear: wearing masks offers some protection, but the effect is cumulative. That is, they are most effective when everyone wears one (at least 100 various scientific articles state this, one is “The Importance of Wearing Masks in Curtailing the COVID-19 Pandemic by Jose Humphreys published in 2020 by The Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care).

The Delta variant is responsible for 97.6% of all new COVID-19 cases in Indiana (as reported on the COVID-19 Dashboard updated by Indiana State government on Thursday, August 26th).”1

The vaccination rate for our zip code 46052 (Lebanon and some small surrounding towns) is barely over half at 54%. 2

“Children, adults, and families are traveling for work, for extracurricular activities, and for leisure in ways we were not during the 2020-2021 academic year. The overall vaccination rate for the state of Indiana is only around 45% (based on current vaccine count of 3.07 million people taken from COVID-19 Dashboard and compared to current 2020-2021 Indiana population of 6.8 million on August 26th), meaning that as we move around our state, we encounter a much higher probability for transmission. We also know that vaccinated individuals can spread the Delta variant (see CDC report “Delta Variant: What We Know About the Science”), and that this is more likely to occur from vaccinated to unvaccinated individuals when effective, layered COVID-19 prevention measures such as community masking are not in place.

In addition, the new daily case count for the virus is at or exceeding levels not seen since winter 2020-2021 at 5,037 (as reported on the COVID-19 Dashboard updated by Indiana State government on Thursday August 26th), and the case count for children is now higher than it has ever been and including more frequent hospitalizations (see COVID-19 Dashboard for facts and figures). Indeed, one COVID resource cites that the hospitalization rate for children with COVID-19 in 2020 was 1 in 10; it is now 1 in 3 (see "Hoosier COVID-19 Update"). As we head further into fall and winter 2021-2022, it is highly probable the virus will continue its upward climb, making case counts overwhelming for our hospital systems and staff, terrifying for parents, and at the very least highly disruptive to the academic learning for our children who must now quarantine due to COVID-19 exposure in school, are actively sick with COVID-19, or who are sick with something other than COVID-19, but who must quarantine and await a negative result. These children are missing days and weeks of school as overwhelmed free public testing sites overflow and close down and labs are inundated with samples.” 1

“The CDC, President Biden, and Governor Holcomb have all stated support for mask mandates in schools. Area school systems in our immediate vicinity have already implemented district-wide mask mandates, such as Carmel, Hamilton Southeastern, IPS, and Noblesville, and other area school systems without mask mandates have been forced to move to remote learning, such as Anderson. Remote learning, as we all experienced, is emotionally and mentally difficult for students, teachers, and parents, and is not as academically effective as in person learning. If we hope to maintain in person learning, we need to be implementing at a minimum the proven, layered measures of COVID-19 community spread prevention that worked in academic year 2020-2021. Now is not the time to be rolling back systems and policies, but to be implementing them with more rigor and care than ever. A district-wide mask mandate is the first and easiest step.” 1

“Our students have a right to safety. Each of us has the ability to offer more protection to one another and our community through our decisions and subsequent actions. We recognize that the choices before you as a Board are not easy or even good—it feels like there are no good choices--but we also strongly argue that by implementing a mask mandate we can, at the very least, continue to protect children’s health and safety and their relative academic success. We also want to pause to recognize the impossible pressure teachers, administrators, and staff are under and that we see how difficult it is to educate and empower children through this time and with these obstacles. We appreciate you and all that you do. We want to support teachers, administrators, and staff and we hope we can find ways to work together.”1 

1. Hull, Kelin. “ZCS Parents, Students, and Invested Community Members for an Improved ZCS Mask Mandate”. Chang.org 

2. “Vaccinations By Zip With Population”. https://hub.mph.in.gov/dataset/covid-19-vaccinations-by-zip/resource/c496b384-f543-417e-912f-995caebf5fc0