As parents in Wake County, we ask the WCPSS School District to maintain the current COVID-19 protocols - including required face coverings - until all students have the opportunity to receive the vaccine.

As of July 21, 2021, the Safe Back to School Plan for WCPSS states: "NCDHHS requires everyone age 5 and older to wear face coverings when indoors at schools, preschools, and on school or vendor transportation on days when students are in the building. They can be removed when actively eating or drinking. Face coverings are optional for everyone when outdoors."

We ask that this remain in place until our children have the chance to be fully vaccinated.

This opportunity and choice should be available in a few months. Please help us keep politics far away from the health of our children, families, friends and community at large. Please help keep our families, friends and community safe, especially with the spread of the new Delta variant.

Today, July 21st, the StrongSchoolsNC Public Health Toolkit was revised, as announced by Governor Cooper and the NCDHHS. This will remove the mask mandate in schools set to expire July 30th. The updated guidance recommends that schools continue requiring masks indoors in grades K-8 because most of the students aren't yet eligible to be vaccinated. Also, masks should be required indoors for all unvaccinated high school students, staff and visitors.

From news coverage of the announcement: "Cooper acknowledged that, while the new guidance strongly encourages who should wear masks in schools, there's no way to enforce it, and there's no repercussions for districts that decide to drop masks indoors completely."

We come together as parents asking you to listen to our voices, our concerns, the science, the data and the experts - including those from the Governor's office and NCDHHS. Please continue the face covering requirement at this time until all students and their families have had the choice and opportunity to be fully vaccinated.