Denver's All-Time Champion School Mask Rules Violator

The City of Denver currently requires COVID-19 mask use and staff vaccinations in schools, and the vast majority of educational institutions have followed these rules. But there are a handful of exceptions — most notably Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Classical School, located at 2256 South Logan Street.

Of the 29 citations issued for violating either the mask or vaccination mandate issued by the Denver Department of Public Health & Environment since the spring of 2021, eight have targeted Our Lady of Lourdes, and that's not counting three prior violations. While a few other places have received multiple citations, the school is the only one to be fined, albeit to little apparent effect. Since it was fined for ignoring mask regulations, Our Lady of Lourdes has already been ticketed twice more.

The DDPHE has enforced its various public-health orders during the pandemic with citations and closures. In our most recent update, published April 28, we reported that Denver had issued 303 citations to businesses, schools and more for violations of COVID-19 rules to that point, as well as 29 placards — the term officials use to designate closures. These shutdowns were intended to be temporary, but one of the 29 operations to receive a placard — Be on Key Psychedelic Ripple Bar, at 1700 Logan — wound up locking its doors permanently after the DDPHE lowered the boom in May 2020.

During that span, Our Lady of Lourdes collected three citations. On October 1, 2020, the school was disciplined after the majority of students observed in classrooms on September 30 were unmasked. On February 26, 2021, three teachers were spotted wearing face coverings below the chin and most students had bare faces. And on March 18, the department reported that the day before, two out of ten teachers and the vast majority of students were without face coverings and closer than six feet away from each other, a distance that the then-current public-health order dictated.

The situation changed on May 16, when Denver lifted capacity limits, distancing and mask requirements in most public settings. But new public-health orders put in place over the months that followed stated that students and staffers needed to wear masks indoors and educators working directly with children, as well as other public and private employees operating in what the city designated as high-risk, front-facing occupations, had to be vaccinated.

Since that time, according to DDPHE data provided to Westword, Denver has issued fifteen orders for compliance with the face-covering order in schools and fourteen orders related to vaccination compliance. Our Lady of Lourdes received six of the former and two of the latter, including a $999 fine on October 14 for what the department shorthands as "failing to comply with a public-health order." And it's continued to fail: Its most recent vaccination violation was issued October 21, and another mask citation dropped on October 27.

Here's the DDPHE's chronological list of masking and vaccination orders among schools and other settings in recent months, complete with the date and the alleged violations.

Face Covering orders:

1. Rock Solid Christian Academy
9/14/21
200 S. University Blvd., Denver
Order issued for Mask Mandate

2. Little Explorers Preschool
9/14/21
2401 N. Alcott St., Denver
Order issued for Mask Mandate

3. Kindercare Learning Center
9/20/21
2200 S. Holly St., Denver
Order issued for Mask Mandate

4. Our Lady of Lourdes
9/20/21
2256 S. Logan St., Denver
Order issued for Mask Mandate

5. Rock Solid Christian Academy
9/24/21
200 S. University Blvd., Denver
Order issued for Mask Mandate

6. Our Lady of Lourdes
9/24/21
2256 S. Logan St., Denver
Order issued for Mask Mandate

7. Rock Solid Christian Academy
10/1/21
200 S. University Blvd., Denver
Order issued for Mask Mandate

8. Little Spark Learning Center
10/4/21
2180 S. Hudson, Denver
Order issued for Mask Mandate

9. Our Lady of Lourdes
10/4/21
2256 S. Logan St, Denver
Order issued for Mask Mandate

10. St. Vincent de Paul School
10/7/21
1164 S. Josephine, Denver
Order issued for Mask Mandate

11. Our Lady of Lourdes
10/12/21
2256 S. Logan St., Denver
Order issued for Mask Mandate

12. Our Lady of Lourdes
10/18/21
2256 S. Logan St., Denver
Order issued for Mask Mandate

13. Our Lady of Lourdes
10/14/21
2256 S. Logan St., Denver
Administrative Citation issued: $999 for failing to comply with a public health order

14. St. Vincent de Paul School
10/21/21
1164 S. Josephine, Denver
Order issued for Mask Mandate

15. Our Lady of Lourdes
10/27/21
2256 S. Logan St., Denver, 80210
Order issued for Mask Mandate

Vaccination orders:

1. Massage Envy Cherry Creek
10/1/21
201 N. Steele St., Unit 1-A, Denver
Order issued for Vaccination Mandate

2. Massage Envy Hampden
10/1/21
7300 E. Hampden Ave., Suite A-1, Denver
Order issued for Vaccination Mandate

3. ASM Global
10/11/21
700 14th St., Denver
Order issued for Vaccination Mandate

4. The NOW Massage
10/12/21
291 N. St. Paul St., Denver
Order issued for Vaccination Mandate

5. Elements Massage Cherry Creek Central
10/12/21
246 Milwaukee St., Denver
Order issued for Vaccination Mandate

6. Elements Massage Cherry Creek West
10/12/21
1367 E. 6th Ave., Denver
Order issued for Vaccination Mandate

7. Hand and Stone Denver South
10/12/21
3333 S Tamarac Dr., Denver
Order issued for Vaccination Mandate

8. Hand and Stone Downtown
10/12/21
1512 Larimer St., Denver
Order issued for Vaccination Mandate

9. Hand and Stone Northfield
10/12/21
8370 Northfield Blvd., Ste. 1775, Denver
Order issued for Vaccination Mandate

10. Elements Massage Hampden & I-25
10/13/21
6365 E. Hampden Ave., Unit 103, Denver
Order issued for Vaccination Mandate

11. Our Lady of Lourdes
10/13/21
2200 S. Logan St., Denver
Order issued for Vaccination Mandate

12. Hand and Stone Cherry Creek
10/14/21
250 N. Columbine St., Unit 150, Denver
Order issued for Vaccination Mandate

13. Renew Studio
10/15/21
763 S. University Blvd., Unit B, Denver
Order issued for Vaccination Mandate

14. Our Lady of Lourdes
10/21/21
2200 S. Logan St., Denver
Order issued for Vaccination Mandate