News Release
O'NEILL REACTS TO WALZ ADMIN'S REFUSAL TO LIFT SCHOOL MASK MANDATE
ST. PAUL – Following a letter signed by more than three dozen Republican House Members to the Governor and Education Commissioner on Monday, Commissioner Mueller responded with a refusal to lift the mask mandate for students in schools. Representative Marion O'Neill, R-Maple Lake, author of the letter, issued the following statement.
"The Walz Administrations refusal to lift the mask mandate for students in schools is extremely frustrating," said O'Neill. "We know that teachers have been eligible to be vaccinated for months now, and COVID transmission in schools is extremely low. Mandating masks for only K12 schools is a feel-good measure that sends mixed messages to students and creates unnecessary conflicts for the last month of school."
A local public school principal from O'Neill's district summed up the Walz decision as, "The inconsistency is building a conflict inside our schools that will make the last month of school even more challenging. No masks indoors anywhere except schools is a hard rationalize for our students and our families.
"It is time to follow the science and end this mandate," O'Neill concluded.
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