Mask Mandate to Keep Our Kids from Virtual Schooling

We, the parents who want a mask mandate across Medina City Schools, have organized to write you, the Board of Education, one letter. We do not want to barrage you with emails any longer. We want to speak clearly and to the point that a mask mandate is necessary. We share with you, the Board of Education, a universal goal of maximum in-person learning. You know this cannot be achieved without maximum efforts to minimize the number of infections. Your decision not to require masks leads to more infections and preventative quarantines, resulting in students out of the classroom. It is apparent that too many of our board members have an objective to align with community buy-in. We believe you are listening to a vocal minority as well as letting your personal views get in the way of making the best decision for our kids. We know there are more families in this district that are concerned for the health of all children and staff, than those that don’t.

Prominent organizations like the CDC, WHO, and AAP have all issued guidance recommending that all students and staff be masked in school until pediatric vaccines are available. We would like to see Medina’s policies align with these recommendations. School aged children may not be as likely to get seriously ill from Covid-19, but we still don't know the long-term impacts on their health. The Delta variant is over 50% more transmissible (some say 200%) with a 1000% higher viral load. This makes it more dangerous than previous strains, and unvaccinated populations (like children) can effectively become a reservoir for the virus if proper precautions aren't taken.

Asking our children to voluntarily wear masks is ineffective. Children run a high risk of still being infected by their unvaccinated and unmasked peers. Also, there is still a percentage of children throughout the nation who have died from Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome (MIS-C) in relation to contracting the Covid-19 virus. We cannot take this risk. When masking is not possible, such as lunch, schools should take steps to facilitate social distancing and good ventilation. For the 2020/2021 school year, Medina City Schools achieved phenomenal results with safety measures that ensured low infection rates and low quarantines due to possible exposures. You know how to achieve the best outcomes for our kids. Please show us that safety is still your priority by putting this very simple mask mandate in place. It’s an easy solution to an enormous problem, which has the potential to save lives.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Hannah Kott-Magrum & Stacey Bene representing Safe Kids Medina