DE PERE, Wis. (NBC 26) — The Unified School District of De Pere board voted to continue requiring masks for students in grades 4k through 6.
"Children are committing suicide because they can't live their life like they're supposed to live," Lynn Challe, who attended Monday night's board meeting to stand against the mandate.
Face coverings will be optional when cases drop to 100 per 100,000 over seven days in Brown Co. The average is currently over 305.
"It's detrimental for their mental health," Challe said. "They need to be able to see facial expressions."
Since the start of the fall semester, De Pere schools have totaled 79 positive cases.
"Everybody who wears a mask in my opinion, when the truth comes out that this Covid is a lie, a lot of people are gonna feel really stupid," Challe said.
Masks are optional for kids in 7th to 12th grade. Dr. Jennifer Milosavljevic has two kids in the district.
"If you don't wear a mask, then you're not being respectful of the others in the school district and those around you," she said. "I think, ultimately, that's what it's about. Respect."
Despite a presence from families on both sides of the face-covering debate, the meeting did not include public input from members of the community.
"I think that it would be important to do universal masking for 4K through 12," Milosavljevic said.
According to members of the board, a survey sent to school families asking about face covering preference was split in half.
"My kids would rather be masked and in-person school where they can actually see their friends every day," Milosavljevic said.
A Green Bay pediatrician gave a presentation to district officials and parents. A group of medical experts also attended to advocate for universal masking.
Back in the beginning of June, the De Pere school board previously decided to make masks optional.
