We are Millard residents and parents of children who attend Millard Public Schools (MPS) and are writing to demand the Millard Public School Board (MPSB) immediately impose a universal masking requirement in MPS, along with consistent quarantine guidelines in the instances of positive Covid tests and close contacts with individuals known to contract the virus.

Taking this immediate action in the face of increasing cases of Covid-19’s Delta Variant (Delta) is a proven and least restrictive means by which the MPSB can fulfill its mission to ensure a safe and equal public school education for our children, which is their fundamental Constitutional right.

Many of our children are under the age of 12 and are not eligible to receive a Covid vaccine. Duke University’s recent study of 1 million school children showed that universal masking is a close second to vaccination to protect against contracting or spreading Covid-19. We know that Delta is affecting children more than the original form of Covid-19 and that children are potentially getting sicker, that vaccinated adults can carry and transmit the virus to unvaccinated or otherwise vulnerable individuals, that the cases of Delta are rapidly increasing in Douglas County and within MPS and our local pediatricians and hospitals are being stressed by RSV and Delta cases.

We also know that our kids learn best in a school setting, that they have a right to expect to be safe in school and in order to help ensure that opportunity at this time and under these circumstances, the MPSB must immediately require universal masking within MPS in accordance with current CDC and AAP guidelines. We all must do everything we possibly can to protect the health and safety of our kids, especially those who are currently ineligible to get a Covid vaccine, and prevent them from contracting a potentially deadly virus that can have significant, long-term negative impacts on their health and therefore ability to learn.

Thank you for considering this request.

Signed,