At the beginning of the school year, the Yancey County School Board made a decision that would have mass consequences. Choosing to not have a mask mandate in schools was a detrimental mistake. Within less than a month of class being back in session, there have been an outstanding number of Covid case outbreaks. The school board is doing nothing to help prevent more cases arising. Children are one of the most vulnerable groups right now. With the number of Covid-cases rising in Yancey County, masks need to be put in place. Many precautions need to be taken but simply aren’t being taken - or taken seriously. Covid related topics in Yancey county have now become a political agenda and it shouldn’t be considered in that matter, this is a serious topic and it could have deadly consequences to either the infected person or the people they come in contact with. Many families, businesses, and residents of our area have been negatively affected by Covid-19 and, more recently, the delta variant. The people of Burnsville need to open their eyes and set preconceived notions aside for the good of our town and county. In the past 14 days (as of 09/02/2021) there have been 2,215 new cases in a county with a population of roughly 18,000 people. To wrap up everything here, to protect our kids, family members, friends, co-workers, etc we need to have a mask mandate to help slow down the rapid spread of Covid-19. With signing this petition you can help put pressure on the School Board to bring about change.