Parents who spoke at a June meeting of the Valley Central Board of Education were quite emphatic: they don’t want their children to be required to wear masks inside the school building.

“The pandemic is over,” said one parent who expressed the view that the wearing of masks in school is unnecessary. More recent data, and the surge in Delta variant cases, suggest otherwise.

On July 19, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that all students and staff, including those vaccinated, wear masks in school as reported in On Board, the official publication of the New York State School Boards Association.

Earlier this summer, New York State reached a milestone when more than 70 percent of its population had been vaccinated. This figure does not apply to children under the age of 12 who are currently ineligible for the vaccine. Studies to determine if the vaccine should be administered to younger children are not expected to be concluded before early fall. While the vaccines have greatly reduced the number of cases, the Coronavirus hasn’t disappeared. From a low of 266 reported cases on June 22, the state total has grown to 2,032 as of July 25.

School districts, meanwhile, will comply with direction from the State Education Department and the New York State Department of Health and must wait for officials from those departments to pour through data that is often conflicting. They must also await directions that may contradict earlier decisions.

The fear expressed at that June school board meeting is that a decision on masks may not come until late August, giving parents little time to react or prepare for the upcoming school year. If that remains the case, then parents should be advised to anticipate a worst-case scenario.

One that requires masks for students and staff, but allows for in-classroom learning and a full schedule of sports and extracurricular activities seems realistic.