Beginning next week, Catholic schools in Washington, D.C.’s Maryland suburbs will be mask-optional for the first time in two school years, but their brethren in the District of Columbia will still be masked under the order of Mayor Muriel Bowser.

The Archdiocese of Washington says it is lobbying the D.C. government to remove its mandate and implores parents to join in the lobbying effort. The call to action came in a Thursday afternoon letter announcing the new mask-optional rule. (See the letter below.)