LETTER: Ozaukee has ‘very high’ Covid rate, masks needed at schools

To Ozaukee Press:
    As a Mequon-Thiensville School District parent, my sincere gratitude goes to the teachers, staff, administrators and School Board. For the past 18 months, they have navigated this pandemic with thoughtfulness and purpose, maintaining open communication and affording flexibility to families like mine who opted to stay remote.
    As excitement grows for my son’s return to school, so does trepidation. I am watching the data and speaking with friends and colleagues from across the country whose kids have already started school, and the pattern is clear: Children attending schools without mask mandates are at substantially greater risk for Covid, and so are their teachers.
    In Cobb County, Ga., one school without a mask mandate had 40 confirmed cases in less than a week. A friend in Florida shared that 37 students and 14 employees were infected in Palm Beach County; school had been open for three days.
     It’s not a matter of if our young people will be infected if unmasked, but when. Lest readers dismiss this as problems of other communities, let’s be very clear: Ozaukee County is one of four counties in the state rated as “very high” in  positive Covid tests. Our neighbors in Milwaukee and Waukesha are two of the others.
    I am not willing to wait until “some kids die” (the phrase used by School Board member Andrew Hopkins at recent meeting) before acting. I support an MTSD mask mandate for all grades until infection rates are below “substantial,” as determined by real data. Science shouldn’t be politicized. And adults must act now to protect children.

Nicole Angresano
Brown Deer