In light of the extremely contagious Omicron variant, the increasing number of students and teachers who have had to quarantine, and the recent closure of schools on Friday, January 14th, we--the undersigned--ask Oxford School District leadership to issue immediately a temporary mask mandate to preserve the health of our community.

In addition to the vaccines, face masks are still our most powerful tool for curbing the spread of this disease. A study published just this week (on January 12th) notes that any face mask is more beneficial than having none at all: https://www.ucf.edu/news/face-masks-cut-distance-airborne-pathogens-could-travel-in-half-new-study-finds/?fbclid=IwAR019JF8vSb1TKFuwQInwywPB1vi6n-uWcqHX7-AeQBLvA-HWxIRS-adgMU

A mask mandate is the easiest and most direct way to keep our schools open and to reduce the number of cases of COVID-19. Do not let politics or anecdotal evidence drive your decision making. Do the right thing for our children, our schools, and our community.