Parents write open letter to El Paso County school districts urging mask mandates

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- As COVID-19 numbers continue to rise in El Paso County, parents and teachers alike are getting concerned about the lack of a mask policy.

Take Colorado Springs School District 11 parents Marion Hourdequin and Vanessa Munoz, both wrote an open letter to each El Paso County school district's superintendent and El Paso County Public Health urging the districts to adopt mandatory mask policies.

Colorado Springs School Districts 11, 20, and 49 mask policies allow for personal freedom, allowing for the students and parents to chose for themselves - for now.

“(Parents) are feeling like they have to chose between in-person learning for their kid and keeping their kid-safe,” said Hourdequin to KRDO on Monday.

In an email to KRDO, D49 said:

We respecct those who follow those recommendations and choose to wear masks, but we will not require them

D49

“It’s a great idea to have a choice and I support that," said Munoz. "But it just doesn’t work for masks unless most kids are wearing them.”

In the letter signed by dozens of parents and teachers throughout El Paso County, the parents cite that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) both recommend masks in schools.

The AAP echoes the CDC recommendation in universal masking for students in schools due to a significant portion of the student population not being eligible for vaccination. Masks are also recommended over concerns of other variants that more easily spread among children.

According to the AAP, child cases of COVID-19 have steadily increased since the beginning of July.

“If we take some precautions now. We can preserve more in-person learning," said Hourdequin. "That's more consistency for our kids.”

D11 adopted their own mitigation thresholds:

• Should El Paso County reach a one-week incidence rate greater than 200 COVID-19 cases per 100k residents, masks will be implemented for all students in kindergarten through fifth grade.
• Should it reach 250, students K-12 will be required to wear masks, even if they are vaccinated.
• Higher than 300 cases per 100k residents, D11 will revert back to hybrid learning.

As of Monday, El Paso County currently sits at 148 cases per 100k residents.

D20 tells KRDO district officials discussed mask policies Monday morning. For now, they're keeping the dialogue open with El Paso County Public Health on what's the correct policies moving forward.

"50% of our parents think we should be wearing masks while 50% think we shouldn't," said Allison Cortez with School District 20. "We are going to following that guidance from El Paso County Public Health. We are going to rely on them on when to make a change. We learned whenever we got out of our lane we didn't get it right."

Students Air Academy High School and Douglas Valley Elementary in D20 are mandated to wear masks due to the Air Force's own mask requirements.

Students riding busses in all school districts are also required to wear masks due to the federal government's own requirements.

In a statement El Paso County Public Health told KRDO NewsChannel 13 recommends masks for indoor settings, however, the El Paso County Health officials say school can determine their own COVID-19 prevention policies.

Public Health strongly recommends masks in all public indoor settings—regardless of vaccination status—in alignment with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations. Public Health continues to support local businesses, education and other sectors in implementing prevention measures through technical support.

Together with our school partners, we enter the 2021-2022 school year equipped with the knowledge, tools, and experiences over the past 16-plus months of pandemic response. Our school partners have demonstrated resiliency and adaptability in navigating the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and our community and schools are experienced in prevention strategies and how to implement them. 

With 17 school districts in addition to charter and private schools, Public Health supports schools in implementing the policies and prevention measures they feel are most beneficial for their unique schools, students, staff and families. Schools maintain the ability to determine which of the layered prevention measures they feel will have the greatest impact in their facilities including masks, along with social distancing cohorting, enhanced cleaning, ventilation, outdoor activities and serial testing.

El Paso County Public Health