Some elementary school parents unhappy with new mask mandate in D11 schools

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Parents and community members gathered at the District 11 Administration building Friday morning to voice concerns over the new mask mandate announced Wednesday for D11 staff.

The mandate is set to go into effect Tuesday, Sept. 7. In a statement to parents, officials said:

Effective Tuesday, September 7, 2021, all D11 staff will be required to wear a mask/face covering regardless of vaccine status while indoors with others in the same classroom/office

District 11

The district cites impacts on in-person learning due to the virus as one reason for mandating staff to mask up.

"Regardless of individual feelings on masks/face coverings, the fact remains when all individuals in a room are wearing a mask, it greatly reduces the number of students and staff who have to quarantine due to positive COVID cases," D11 said.

Due to El Paso County's current incidence rate, D11 says they anticipate an additional mask requirement for elementary to go into effect on Sept. 7 as well.

Friday, parents protested against the possibility of a mask requirement for D11 students under 12.

One D11 parent claims masks would make the situation worse, not better.

"We're seeing a lot of sick kids non-stop and we believe it's because we're constantly masking our kids. When you are putting a face-covering over our children's mouths they're now inhaling their own toxins back into their bodies," Jennifer Bertram, a D11 elementary school parent at the protest said.

Bertram also said the choice should be parents whether or not to mask their child. She added that traditional safety precautions should still be taken, aside from masking.

"I think the solution is to just unmask our kids, make sure that we're washing our hands, make sure we're keeping up with our vitamin C, our vitamin D, our zinc. Everything that we were doing before this pandemic," Bertram said.

For now, the district said they will communicate with D11 families as soon as possible on whether or not elementary students will need to wear a mask Tuesday.

If they do, the district said the requirement will be in place for 30 days and re-evaluated as they continue to monitor the community COVID spread. School offices will have disposable masks available for students if they forget, dirty, or damage their mask, D11 said.

As far as the frustrated parents go, some told KRDO they plan on protesting next week.