Superintendent Wilbanks:

Your plan for opening Gwinnett schools in August without requiring face masks, with rooms arranged safely "where feasible," and with inadequate provisions for digital learning puts the health of our children, their teachers, and our entire community at risk.

Atlanta Public Schools has announced they will require masks as an element of their dress code this fall, and there's absolutely no reason Gwinnett shouldn't do the same. This is not a political issue - it's one of community safety, quite literally life and death.

We require that students wear shoes, shirts, pants, and skirts of an appropriate length. We forbid them to bring guns, knives, or even peanuts to school for the safety of students and staff. Why on earth should face masks be optional? They are by far the most effective method of preventing the spreading of COVID-19, they're cheap and easily available, and they work.

This plan places every household at risk, whether it has school-age kids or not. Every child, parent and grandparent, especially those who are pregnant or have underlying health conditions (asthma, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease); every store employee; every person sitting on a bus or in a restaurant is put at risk of dying alone. We respectfully request that you rethink this decision now, before it's too late.