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An Open Letter to Dr. Amy Van Deuren and the Sparta School District Board of Education:

Our goal is to put the health of all Sparta School District children first and require masks for all children under age 12.

As parents, grandparents and concerned Sparta community members, we are writing to ask that you reconsider Sparta School District’s fall mask policy for Elementary age students in light of the continued growth in Covid cases in Monroe County, updated CDC guidelines and updated recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics.  

From the CDC(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)  Updated August 4, 2021:  

  “Given new evidence on the B.1.616.2 (Delta) virus variant, CDC recommends universal indoor masking for all teachers, staff, students and visitors to K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status.”

From the American Academy of Pediatrics(AAP):

     “All Students older than 2 years and all school staff should wear face masks at school(unless medical or developmental conditions prohibit use).  The AAP recommends universal masking in school at this time for the following reasons:

• A significant portion of the student population is not eligible for vaccination
• Protection of unvaccinated students from Covid-19 and to reduce transmission
• Potential difficulty in monitoring or enforcing mask policies for those who are not vaccinated; in the absence of schools being able to conduct this monitoring universal masking is the best and most effective strategy to create consistent messages, expectations, enforcement and compliance without the added burden of needing to monitor vaccination status
• Continued concerns for variants that are more easily spread among children
Monroe County WI Health Department Covid numbers:​

Over the  past several weeks, the Covid levels in Monroe County have continued to rise.  The week ending August 31st,  there were 155 cases reported and our County was in a HIGH or RED Transmission level.  Our weekly case rate per 100,000 people was 335.1 or 3 times the HIGH (RED) level of 100. Our State has also seen an increase of Covid. We are at the highest level of case activity in 6 months.

Please help us protect our children from this deadly virus.  Their life and health depend on your decisions.  This is a public health issue; not a political issue. Thank you for your consideration.  Sincerely,