A Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC) student has forced the school to admit that it does not have any evidence to support its campus mask mandate. In response to MATC's announcement last month that it would begin requiring surgical, KN 95, or N95 masks, the student filed an open records request for all "data that proves the effectiveness of mitigating the spread of COVID by wearing masks on campus."
MATC responded to this request by indicating that "the College does not have responsive records," meaning that it does not have any data that proves the effectiveness of masks in mitigating the spread of COVID-19 on its campus. Similarly, MATC admitted that it "does not have responsive records" for the student's request for "data that shows the amount of serious illness/death prevented by wearing masks on campus." This likewise demonstrates that MATC does not have any evidence that its mask mandate has prevented any serious or death.
Starting Tuesday, MATC said on its website, "cloth masks will no longer be acceptable for students or employees to wear on campus." Instead, "everyone regularly on campus (students, employees and contractors/vendors)" is now required to wear "surgical/medical masks, KN95 masks or N95 masks."
"These masks and respirators offer higher levels of protection than cloth versions," the school explains on its website. "Masks must be worn regardless of vaccination status and must cover the nose and mouth."
The school had enacted a mask mandate on August 9th that required "MATC students, employees, vendors and visitors...to wear facial masks indoors at all college campuses and facilities, including shuttle vans, regardless of vaccination status." This mandate, however, allowed for the wearing of cloth masks. In January, MATC updated its mandate to exclude cloth masks.
In its response to the student's open records request, however, the school was forced to admit that it has "no responsive records" that would prove the effectiveness of mandating surgical, KN95, or N95 masks. MATC's records custodian instead copied and pasted the statement about such masks that is posted on the school's website and added that "per the Center for Disease Control, these masks and respirators offer higher levels of protection than cloth versions."