To mask or not to mask? That is the question — especially when it comes to whether or not children should be wearing masks in schools.

It's a question that no one seems to have an answer to. Poudre School District, Thompson School District, and Jefferson County are requiring children to mask up, while Greeley-Evans School District and Weld RE-4 School District aren't.

Even parents can't seem to make up their minds, as protests and counter-protests have erupted across Colorado.

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Dr. Tina Tan, an attending physician with the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago and a professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, has a clear stance on the issue — and it involves keeping children in the classroom.

"There's a fairly large group of children that are not protected by vaccines and we have to find a safe way for them to attend in-person school because the benefits of [in-person school] are definitely much, much greater than virtual learning," she said in our "Tuned In to NoCo" interview. "There are some steps that people can take to ensure a safer environment for their kids to learn in."

One of Dr. Tan's steps, albeit a controversial one, is a mask mandate.

"If kids are going to go back to in-person learning, they need to wear a mask," she said. "There should be mask mandates in schools so that teachers, students, and staff all are wearing masks indoors in schools."

Dr. Tan also noted the importance of COVID-19 vaccines, the topic of another recent protest at the UCHealth Medical Center in Loveland.

Do you support mask mandates in schools? Let us know in the poll below.

Hear more about Dr. Tan's insight on mask mandates in schools by listening to her full "Tuned In to NoCo" interview above.

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