On Aug. 18, 2021, the Tri-County Health Department issued a public health order that requires all children from 2-12 years of age to wear a face covering while in any indoor school setting in Adams, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties. Additionally, the order requires all individuals working with or interacting with children ages 2-12 to wear a face covering while in any indoor child care setting in the Tri-County service area. The public health order does allow counties to opt-out of the order. This decision follows the endorsement by Tri-County of recent federal guidance that recommends mask wearing in public areas that have high rates of community transmission. 

Arapahoe County commissioners will hold a study session about the mask order on Monday, Aug. 30, 2021, from 1-2 p.m. Study Sessions are information-gathering meetings for the Board of County Commissioners and are open to the public. These meetings are virtual due to COVID; residents can access the live-stream meetings via our Legistar portal. 

To date, Arapahoe County commissioners have received many comments from residents both in support of and against opting out of the public health order. While there is no public comment period during the study session, commissioners welcome comments from constituents ahead of the meeting to better inform their decision making.

To streamline this process, the County has created this form to gauge resident feedback (see Browser Guidance below) on the school and childcare mask requirements. This survey will be open to the public through Aug. 28, 2021. Results will be tabulated and presented to commissioners during the study session. (Note: We are experiencing high volume on this feedback form. If you are unable to load the form, please try again later. The form will be open through Aug. 28.)

For clarification, school settings include any indoor facility used for P-12 instruction and includes public, private and charter schools. “School setting” includes all buildings on school property where individuals 12 years of age or younger may be present for any reason, as well as any place in Adams, Arapahoe, or Douglas Counties where school-based or sponsored activities are performed, even if those activities are not performed on school property. School setting does not include home schooling by parents solely of their own children.

“Childcare setting” includes all licensed childcare facilities, including single skill-building and 72-hour camps, childcare centers operated in connection with and on the premises of a church, shopping center, or business where children are cared for during short periods of time; special schools or classes for religious instruction or single skill-building purpose. 

Please also note that although counties can opt out of the public health order, school districts and other employers retain the ability to create and enforce their own mask mandates as they see fit. 

View additional information on the Tri-County Health school mask mandate.

We are experiencing high volume on this feedback form. If you are unable to load the form or you get a message that says, "This site can't provide a secure connection," please try again later. The form is open through Aug. 28. 

Browser Guidance

Trouble loading the form? Our Alchemer survey will work best with these browsers:

• Google Chrome
• Mozilla Firefox
• Microsoft Edge

If you are using a mobile device, we recommend using up-to-date versions of a built-in mobile browser such as Safari, Android, and Edge for Mobile.