BATON ROUGE - Early Monday morning, an organized group of activists promoting increased COVID safety in Louisiana's schools gathered on the steps of the State Capitol to voice their concerns.

The activists are known as 'Concerned Louisianans for Safe and Healthy Schools and Communities' and they conducted the Monday, August 16 press conference at 8:30 a.m., explaining that they are circulating a statewide petition that demands Louisiana Superintendent of Education Dr. Cade Brumley and the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education do more than require masks to keep schools safe during the health crisis.

The group said in a news release, "Louisiana needs more than a mask mandate to prevent further outbreaks of COVID-19, that undoubtedly will happen without proper public health mitigation strategies.There is a false narrative that we are now “post-pandemic.”"

After the press conference, organizers testified at the 10 a.m. House Health and Welfare committee meeting.

Additional information on the petition created by Concerned Louisianans for Safe and Healthy Schools and Communities is available here.