Jeffco parents protest mask mandate for students ages 3-11

About 300 parents — galore with kids successful tow — spent Wednesday greeting protesting Jeffco Public Schools’ determination to necessitate students ages 3 to 11 to deterioration masks successful classrooms to commencement the upcoming schoolhouse year.

Standing extracurricular of the Jefferson County Public Health office successful Lakewood, parents chanted “my body, my choice” and held signs decrying past week’s determination by the state’s second-largest schoolhouse district.

Beth Parker, who precocious moved from Golden to Douglas County partially due to the fact that of the second county’s little restrictive COVID-19 rules, said she believes the subject is wide that young radical are acold little susceptible to the microorganism than their parents and grandparents.

Data from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment shows little than 3.5% of each COVID hospitalizations person occurred among radical 19 and younger since the pandemic started, and conscionable a 4th of 1% of each COVID deaths person occurred successful that property cohort.

“The immense quality is that high-risk radical person the prime to get vaccinated,” Parker said. “We request to halt asking kids to sacrifice for adults.”

Last week, the Jefferson County schoolhouse territory said successful a quality merchandise that it was requiring masks for children up to 11 years of property due to the fact that that property radical is not yet eligible for the vaccine. It besides said region nationalist wellness officials made it wide that they would beryllium enforcing quarantine guidelines erstwhile schoolhouse starts Aug. 17 and the territory wants to debar arsenic overmuch disruption from kids who go exposed to the virus.

But galore parents astatine the rally said masks person a detrimental effect connected young children’s quality to larn by stopping their quality to spot captious ocular facial cues erstwhile interacting with others.

Seventy-five percent of eligible adults person gotten astatine slightest 1 changeable of the vaccine successful Jefferson County portion different 50,000 residents person had COVID, providing them with immoderate level of immunity, according to authorities wellness data.

The question implicit whether students should person to deterioration masks has intensified successful the past week arsenic metro Denver schoolhouse districts rolled retired their COVID policies. Several districts, similar Littleton and Aurora, are not mandating masks for students but encouraging their use, particularly for the unvaccinated.

Jefferson County Schools is recommending masks for students 12 and older who are vaccinated and powerfully recommending masks usage for unvaccinated students successful that property group. Teachers and unit who are unvaccinated indispensable deterioration a disguise inside, and visitors are required to nary substance the vaccination status.

On Tuesday, Denver Public Schools went a measurement further than Jefferson County by requiring each students, teachers and unit to commencement the schoolhouse twelvemonth with look coverings.

For the week ending Sunday, Colorado saw its largest fig of coronavirus infections since mid-May, arsenic the much contagious delta variant continues to dispersed crossed the state.