Tri-County Mask Mandate In Schools: What To Know

ARAPAHOE COUNTY, CO — The Tri-County Health Department, which oversees Arapahoe, Douglas and Adams counties, announced Tuesday a new mask mandate for schools.

The department's board of health voted six to two in favor of the order, which will require masks for children ages 2-11 and employees in schools and childcare centers who work with that age group. A motion to put universal masking in all schools did not pass.

The news comes after school mask mandates were announced in Denver, Jefferson County, Boulder and Broomfield counties.

"This was an extremely difficult decision. At the end of the day, however, it is our responsibility as Public Health to stop the spread of disease," said Dr. Kaia Gallagher, Tri-County Health Department board of health president. "The decision to put a mask order in place reflects our perspective, and the perspective of Governor Polis, that in-person learning is essential for our children’s wellbeing. Requiring masking will allow most children to return to the classroom to learn while minimizing transmission and illness."

The department's decision was made after a public comment session that lasted for more than an hour and a half. While many community members said they were against school mask mandates, the board said their decision was made "based on science, data and the advice of numerous health experts such as the Colorado Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics."

“We are in a race to stop the spread of the Delta variant and keep even more contagious variants from emerging. Requiring masks in schools is one of the most important steps we can take to prevent transmission of COVID-19 in classrooms. This will keep our kids and their families safer and reduce disruptions to in-person learning that so heavily impacted educational success and mental health during the last school year and are already occurring in other states.”

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As of Tuesday, Arapahoe, Douglas and Adams counties were listed under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 'substantial' category for the spread of COVID-19, which means that everyone is asked to wear masks indoors in public spaces, regardless of vaccination status.

"Mask wearing in schools is particularly important because there are so many interactions in schools between vaccinated and unvaccinated people, and because children under 12 are not yet eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccines," the Tri-County Health Department said in a news release.

The department's school mask mandate takes effect Monday. Counties can opt out of the order, but school districts can't opt out. As of Wednesday morning, the department's three counties had not announced plans to opt out of the mandate.