With the start of school inching ever closer and COVID-19 numbers trending up, Alachua County School Board members must decide what to do on a topic near and dear to families: Whether to insist that children wear masks while at school. As the virus numbers waned in the spring, school system officials announced in April that masks would be optional for the 2021-22 school year, which begins Aug. 10. Since then, Alachua County saw 372 new virus cases last week and the positivity rate for new cases was 8.3%, as the Delta variant sweeps the country. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced earlier this month that unvaccinated children in K-12 schools should wear a mask, while vaccinated children can go without. But there is no vaccine for students in grades K-6, as one must be 12 years old to be inoculated.