Masks need to be required in Bowling Green schools this fall. Why? Because unless a student has a properly fitted N95 mask, a facial covering only provides limited protection from COVID to the wearer and many children cannot yet be vaccinated. Thus, if my child is wearing a mask, but those around my child are not wearing one, my child still has a fairly high risk of infection from those in the room. That is especially true because the delta variant of COVID is one of the most highly transmissible respiratory viruses that humans have recorded.
And while the risk of death for my child is very small, even without being vaccinated, more and more children are being hospitalized as delta spreads and recent studies have estimated that about 1 in 10 infected children acquire “long covid” symptoms, including headaches, fatigue, heart problems, and memory loss.
Thus, Superintendent Scruci’s recommendation that masks be recommended but not required puts students in the district at risk of substantial negative health outcomes and ignores guidance from the CDC and other organizations.Wearing a mask is a small thing. My child did it last spring without complaint. I strongly urge the school board to do the right thing and require masks indoors, at least in elementary and middle schools, at least until a vaccine is widely available for students of all ages (hopefully by October or November), or rates of transmission decline again. Either way, the district needs to clearly state the conditions under which masks will or won’t be required (e.g. certain levels of community spread and/or availability of a vaccine for all ages).
Kevin McCluney
Bowling Green
