A top priority for Lewiston Superintendent Jake Langlais and the Lewiston School Committee is the health and safety of all students and employees. When dealing with health and safety, experts in the field should be the guiding voices — not the loudest, the politically correct, or the emotional.

With the recommendation of the superintendent the School Committee voted 5 to 4 on Aug. 2 to allow parents to decide whether to mask or not mask. No experts in the field gave testimony, guidelines from the CDC were not followed and expert medical personal were not present.

This was more a political decision than a science-based health care decision for the majority. The highly contagious COVID Delta variant, which is much more contagious than the original COVID-19, is now at a substantial level in our area. Across the country children are now contracting this terrible virus; no vaccination is available yet for children under 12 years old.

To make matters worse, the superintendent announced that there would be no online learning option for parents. Parents have no choice; they must send students to a school building, in a classroom with students who are unmasked. If parents do not want their children exposed to unmasked people they will have to homeschool with no online option.

Health and safety is a top priority — science, health care experts, and CDC guidelines must be put first in the decision-making process. The committee should reconsider its vote and protect the health and safety of all.

Crystal Ward, Lewiston