The North Allegheny School District plans to move to a mask optional plan on January 18, 2022. School board members Richard McClure, Vidya Szymkowiak, Libby Blackburn, Marcie Crow, and Shannon Yeakel voted for this change at the December meeting, rejecting the voices of healthcare professionals who advised them to put the health and safety of students and the community first. In the midst of a public health crisis that is far from over, the idea of a nonexistent inconvenience upheld by a small yet loud group of voters has pushed these five representatives into compliance that goes directly against the well-being of the school district that they are supposed to work for. No matter what side of the political aisle you agree with, public health should come first. It is scientifically clear that proper masking, distancing, and ventilation are the top ways to stop the spread of COVID-19, and vaccines, while they have been proven effective, lessen the effects of the virus and do not stop it altogether. High schools and colleges across the country have moved to require masks and/or an online system, and North Allegheny is going in the opposite direction. The next school board meeting is a day after the mask-optional policy goes into effect, January 19, 2022, and I urge you all to attend.