UPDATE: Good news! Valor is working to create a safe, healthy environment for the return to in-person school in August and is considering changes to their face covering policy. More information will be out within the next week or so. I personally cannot stop people from continuing to sign the petition but please know further signatures are not necessary, but will be acknowledged as support for these upcoming changes.

Valor Christian High School is a private college prep school located in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. They encourage spiritual growth in the Christian faith and offer amazing academic, athletic, and artistic programs for students led by faculty that care not only about what they teach but who they teach as well. In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, Valor has decided that they will return in-person August with five day school weeks, minimal social distancing, and allowing students to wear masks “by individual preference and choice” (https://govalor.com/health-safety-practices/).

There is no guarantee that the other protocols they have in place (such as COVID-19 testing, isolation, and the option to participate in classes online) will keep COVID out of the school. Valor is also aware that they have students and faculty both that either are or live with people who are immunocompromised. Online classes seem like an easy solution to maintaining the health of the Valor community, but multiple students have found that being forced online has negatively affected their grades - this is especially concerning for students who will not feel safe at school. There have been multiple scientific studies that have proven that masks are not detrimental to a person’s physical ability to breathe and do not raise CO2 levels and, furthermore, when both an infected and healthy individual wear masks, the airborne transmission is slim to none. Not requiring face masks means that the school can not ensure the health and safety of not only their students, but their teachers, faculty, families of the school, and the surrounding community.

The signatures on this petition are in support of Valor requiring all students, faculty, dining and cleaning staff, and parents/siblings/visitors to wear a mask, face shield, or cloth covering at all times while on campus within reason; this would make prolonged physical exertion, including practice for sports, dance, and other similar activities exempt. This mandate of masks could realistically be the difference between the health and sickness of those living in Douglas County, Highlands Ranch, and beyond. In 1 Corinthians 10:14, Paul preaches unity and service, specifically in the early Church, but his words still ring true in our current circumstances: "Do not seek your own good, but seek the good of your neighbor." We understand that Valor Christian High School is a privately owned school, and therefore not required by state law to mandate masks, but the safety of their students and faculty should always be their first priority.