As a mother, grandmother, retired health care provider and longtime member of the Mid-Prairie community, I have always been proud of our school district’s level of commitment to education. However, I have become dissatisfied, disappointed and in disbelief regarding the Mid-Prairie Board of Education’s decision for the removal of the mask mandate.

This letter is in response to the recent increase in the number of children contracting Covid-19 and the no mask stance the board has taken. While writing this is late in coming (for which I have significant regret, not speaking up sooner), it has now become personal and very real for me.

I feel strongly that the mask mandate should be reinstated particularly for the most vulnerable (children under 11years of age who cannot be vaccinated).

In preparing my thoughts for this letter, I wanted to also address some of dialog which played a role in the Board’s decision making. I reviewed documentation of the April 2021 board meeting.

The CDC, Public Health and the World Health Organization has always supported a layering approach. Mask wearing in addition to social distancing to protect both the person wearing the mask as well as those around them. This is particularly important when people are lousy at social distancing. Masks covers the nasal cavity which harbors the virus. Wearing a mask protects others when an individual is infected with COVID-19, is asymptomatic and unaware they are spreading the virus to others.

What disturbs me the most is the Board’s blatant disregard for the scientific body of knowledge or the use of critical thinking regarding the mitigation efforts presented by experts in the field of science. The Board’s mission statement is to promote critical thinking, which requires wanting to see what evidence is involved to support a particular argument or conclusion.

The scientific and medical community has done the research and continues to do so. The CDC released data that continues to support masking rules to prevent COVID-19. For example, the data released today examined Arizona schools. Schools without mask mandates showed 3.5 times the risk of a school-associated COVID-19 outbreak compared to those with a mask mandate.

It seems the Board removed the mask mandate due to parents who felt they had a right to be in charge of their child’s health. Some parents felt masks were not in the child’s best interest physically and psychologically.

It also seems the Board did not feel teachers/staff should have to enforce mask use, “a rule that they didn’t implement or have anything to do with.”

While I believe parents have the right to decide what is appropriate for their child’s health it cannot apply when it puts another individual or child at risk.

The Board’s concern regarding teachers enforcing a rule to mandate masks they didn’t implement is irrational. Teachers are often required to follow through on policies they may not agree with.

Bottom line it is the Board’s responsibility to provide a safe environment for the students and community it services. Until vaccination rates increase, and vaccines are available for children 11 years and under, the incidents of COVID will continue to rise. Please reinstate the mask mandate.

Deb Hess

Parnell, Iowa