Safe, Equitable Education in Barrington District 220

With rising number of Delta variant cases, and the majority of students being too young to be vaccinated, it is critical that masking and social distancing policies remain in place for the school year. I would much rather my child wear a mask and stay healthy. This would also help to ensure that schools stay open with in person learning. Unmasking invites outbreak of covid, resulting in unneeded illness and a dissapointing return to remote learning. Masking is a small price to pay for health and consistency. My children have no issue wearing masks; they are aware of the risks posed to them due to the fact that they aren't vaccinated and want to be safe. I've seen no social or health issues with them wearing masks. Please weigh this decision carefully, and err on the side of caution. Thank you!

Kids need to safe and parents shouldn’t have to worry. This virus and the Delta are dangerous

Given the rise of the delta variant, it is essential that we keep masks in schools until vaccines are widely available for our children.

If you’re not vaxed wear a mask.

Yes, so much yes! The opinions of a few should not outweigh the benefit of the many.

Please mask our kids until they’re vaccinated.

School boards should not be allowed to substitute their personal opinions for the science and expertise that underlie the guidance of the public health agencies in a way that endangers our children and community as a whole.

Why are the local health departments not more active in determining the local school board policies? They are actually an informed medical resource for the community and the school boards.

Sciencey-stuff: - We are in a world with a highly transmissible, mutating virus that has only been studied for ~1.5 years - 4 million deaths, worldwide - Risk/death impact with *historical* variants primarily impacted older age groups, but Delta and future variants have yet-to-be understood impacts by age group (if there is a peer-reviewed study with this information, please share) - Long COVID has been officially recognized by the UK's NHS, and its symptoms and impacts are still being studied - Delta accounts for most cases, primarily impacting the unvaccinated; this also creates an enabling environment for future mutations - Multiple, peer-reviewed studies about mask efficacy are available (some samples: - https://www.iza.org/publications/dp/13319/face-masks-considerably-reduce-covid-19-cases-in-germany-a-synthetic-control-method-approach - https://twitter.com/g_leech_/status/1406287138765873155) - Viruses do what viruses do, regardless of personal beliefs and convictions Not-sciencey-stuff: - Masks are bothersome at best, uncomfortable and incredibly annoying at worst - Children who are not eligible for vaccination do not have any protections - A parent/guardian's moral and ethical duty is to reduce risk to their children - Masks help reduce risk, so children - especially those who are not eligible for vaccination, should be masked We don't know what we don't know, but what is known is that masks reduce risk, and we have a community duty (and a human one) to reduce risk for those who cannot reduce risk themselves. We must hold our individual liberties and freedoms dear; we are lucky to be in a country where we can exhibit and benefit from those. However, the adage, "my liberty ends where your nose begins" literally comes into play with the viral situation we find ourselves in. How could one live with oneself knowing that your child or a stranger's child became infected and had long-term mental and physical ailments for the re

Absolutely mask now

As per our pediatrician, unvaccinated children should be wearing masks.

Follow the science! Don’t let the anti-maskers take over.

If anything, I would love to see accountability for those families who are sending their kids to summer sports - and will send their kids to school - unvaccinated and without masks. Those parents sat at the school board meeting proclaiming that they were going against IDPH and IHSA guidelines, and they will continue to do so proudly. More importantly, those same parents loudly cheered on a speaker who clearly shouted out racist, white supremacist accusations. Where is the DEI coordinator? How is he affecting our community?

We need to stay the course with masking in schools and other layers of mitigation, so that we can have in-person school (hopefully, for the entire year)... especially since we have so many students who are not yet eligible for vaccination, and the variants are proving to be more contagious and carry higher risks.

With a stronger Covid variant and the vaccine not available yet for children under 12 due to more study I feel it’s important to continue mask wearing. Thank you

School needs to be a safe environment for kids. By making mask optional will open the door for more kids to get sick both vaccinated and unvaccinated. I refuse to let a mob of crazy parents take control of our school safety

Please keep my grandchildren and other children safe . Protect the children .

I respect everyone’s personal preferences, but let’s all focus together on protecting children’s health. Masks are not to protect the wearer, but to protect others from the spread of the disease. We must all sacrifice a little so others don’t have to suffer, please require masks for our school aged children as recommended by scientists and health officials.

There is a reason we have public health professionals and doctors to guide medical decisions and there’s a reason it requires so much training. To base decisions about our children’s health off of parents reporting data curated to support their desires and partisan political interests, based on pure internet posts and articles not even written by medical professionals, that defy the consensus of the medical community, is completely absurd! It puts my children’s health and risk and puts the life of their immunocompromised relative in cancer treatment at risk.

The science is clear. We have a pediatrician on our board that wasn’t even given a proper chance to speak when these decisions were made. We need to face reality, covid isn’t “over” and we must plan accordingly by acting on the advise of experts vs. the preferences of the general public.