DENVER, CO – Just days after Gov. Jared Polis said vaccinated students can “certainly be confident” they won’t need to wear a mask at school, Denver Public Schools announced a mask mandate for all students regardless of vaccination status.

Polis made made the pledge in a July 27 interview on KOA Radio barely a week before DPS announced their mandate.

KOA RADIO: When I got my 13 year-old vaccinated in early June one of the promises was “hey, this is great, you won’t have to wear your mask when school starts up again in the fall.” Now, am I going to be a liar, are these kids going to have to wear masks again when they go back to school? 

JARED POLIS: I don’t think so, I don’t think any district is talking about requiring masks for kids who are vaccinated. There’s no statewide requirement in any of this. There could be some districts that are doing mask wearing for unvaccinated, but no, I think that’s a good selling point for any parent of a 12-17 year-old, you can certainly be confident if you do get vaccinated you don’t need to wear a mask. [emphasis added]

The mixed message from Polis and the state’s largest school district comes amid nationwide criticism of the Biden administration’s about-face on mask requirements for vaccinated individuals.

If you are covering the DPS mask mandate please consider the following quote from Compass Colorado.

“DPS’s mask mandate for vaccinated students completely undermines Polis’s credibility,” said Compass Colorado Executive Director Kyle Kohli.

“How can communities with low vaccination rates trust Polis and the state’s largest school district when neither can deliver a clear and consistent message on masks?,” Kohli continued.

“This latest instance of mixed messaging shows serious public health decisions affecting Denver students are being guided first and foremost by politics, not science.”

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