Due to the increase of COVID-19 in the community, the Shelby County Commissioners voted to mandate masks in all county schools beginning Tuesday, September 14, 2021 at 8:00 am.

Students, staff, and visitors were required to wear masks while inside all school facilities until October 30, 2021 unless the resolution was rescinded earlier or extended. This included all academic and extracurricular activities held inside.

However, with no response from county commissioners, we reached out to the Shelby County Health Department, who let us know they could not require the mandate. Allegedly, this decision came from the school’s attorney, in compliance with the health department’s recommendation and somehow became mandatory.

Meanwhile, masks are not required around town in day-to-day businesses. This excludes the medical and state / government buildings. Our schools should be under the same measures as the rest of the town, if the kids’ safety was truly the focus. With life measures returning to normal, there’s no reason the school shouldn’t be the same. Even their outdoor extracurricular activities are not held to the same masking standard, as if Covid only exists and spreads indoors.

Most parents complied and made little to no noise last year. Even at the start of this year. But the extension that was announced around October 14th was unjust. Parents weren’t asked for their opinion. The school board simply made the decision amongst themselves to extend the mandate without inquiring or announcing the plan to parents.

Until there is a mask mandate for the entire county, or at the very least, the city, we, the parents of SCS students call for the school board to alter the mask mandate to a mask advisory.

EDIT: We call on the SCS school board to executively, by the powers invested in the superintendent, or by way of parental, public vote, to consider reducing the mask MANDATE to a mask ADVISORY.