By Conor Cahill
Governor Jared Polis announced today that in addition to providing medical-grade masks to public school teachers this Fall, the State will also provide masks for teachers across the state working in public charter schools and in private schools. The State announced a specific partnership with the Colorado Archdioceses of Denver to provide 2,000 masks per week to their 48 schools. Private schools and public, independent charter schools will be asked to pick up their supply of masks in the district headquarters or designated depot in which they are located.
“Keeping teachers, students, and school staff as safe as possible as kids head back to school is our top priority. We are thrilled to be working to distribute medical-grade masks to educators across our state in private and public schools alike. We know this school year is not going to look like one we’ve ever seen before, and I applaud the incredible work of our teachers, administrators, and parents for their dedication to ensuring Colorado students receive the education they deserve,” said Governor Polis.
“The Catholic schools of the Archdiocese of Denver are grateful to Governor Polis for his promise to provide every public and non-public school teacher in a Colorado a medical-grade mask every week. It is a commendable demonstration of solidarity and support for our Catholic schools and especially our Catholic school teachers and staff during this unprecedented time in our history. Every school, teacher, student, and family in every corner of Colorado has been impacted by this pandemic. This partnership will go a long way to support our robust safety plans for our schools that will give parents the option of in-school or online learning for their children. We are truly all in this together,” said Elias Moo, Superintendent of Catholic Schools, Archdiocese of Denver.
Earlier this month, Governor Polis announced that the state would be distributing N95 masks to teachers each week in public schools across the state for at least 8-10 weeks, regardless of whether the school is starting in-person, in a hybrid manner, or remotely.
The State Emergency Operations Center is currently working on a plan to begin distributing the masks for educators at public schools, private schools, boards of cooperative services, districts and facility schools beginning August 17.