D51 Parents and Students Organize Walkout Protesting Masks

It's clear that many families in Western Colorado have had enough with the pandemic, COVID-19, vaccines, and wearing face masks. That was on display yesterday as a collection of parents and students who are enrolled in District 51 organized a walkout to protest school mask policies according to KKCO. The event was organized at Long Family Memorial Park right next to Grand Mesa Middle School and Central High School.

Many parents are feeling like the school district administration needs to listen closely to the Mesa County Public Health officials and give each student their own choice whether they want to wear a face mask while attending school or not. Mesa County is currently letting individuals use the "Free to Choose" policy in regards to wearing masks.

One Specific Issue That Was Brought Up By a Parent Regarding Masks in Schools

One parent brought up the fact that when going out to eat a meal we are allowed to remove our masks to eat, but students even when sitting by themselves are still required to keep their masks on. Parents are saying that the rules created by the school district just don't make sense.

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The Response by District 51 Leaders in Regards to Mask Wearing in Schools

Superintendent Dr. Diana Sirko writes a weekly letter detailing District 51's policies and reasoning behind why they have the current guidelines in place. She also said that mask-wearing in schools is still a statewide mandate, which sounds like it will be in place for the rest of this school year. No decision has been made about next year's mask-wearing rules.

Although as you can see it would be difficult to keep these same restrictions in place without facing some sort of backlash from students and parents.