Parental Choice for Masking in Schools – Letter to Hillsdale BOE

PLEASE SIGN

August 2021

Dear Mr. Lombardy and the Hillsdale Board of Education,

We call for the Hillsdale Public School District to allow for parents to decide whether their children should wear a mask at school. At the last Board of Education meeting, you announced that you hope to return to normal in September. However, arbitrary and constantly shifting government guidelines and unrelenting external pressures are threatening that possibility, and we ask you to stand up and help stop enabling rules that restrict parental rights. Recent research shows potentially dangerous health consequences along with negative mental health impacts of mask mandates.

We believe removing mask mandates in school is appropriate based on the following:

1. The elimination of a mask mandate by the Hillsdale Public School District protects the interests of ALL district families. Those parents who choose for their child to continue to wear a mask may do so, while those who have very real, substantiated concerns about the safety of wearing masks in school will no longer be coerced into having their children wear something that they believe to be harmful to their health and detrimental to their educational experience.
2. At this time, all Hillsdale Public School staff members who want to be inoculated with the COVID injections have been able to receive it and can feel comfortable knowing they are protected.
3. Masking can have a negative impact upon our children’s education. Masks make it harder for students to learn by preventing the reading of facial expressions, which is critical at all ages.
4. Masks make breathing more difficult, which contributes to anxiety and impacts brain function.
5. Many District parents have observed multiple negative physical effects of masking, including sore throats, headaches, rashes, acne and brain fog.
6. Evidence suggests that using masks as medical devices may cause harm to school children:

A. A review of 65 research publications on the adverse effects of masks documented both psychological and physical deterioration resulting from unhealthy carbon dioxide levels and reductions in oxygen. The researchers conclude, “The described mask-related changes in respiratory physiology…have a negative effect on the basis of all aerobic life, external and internal respiration, with an influence on a wide variety of organ systems and metabolic processes with physical, psychological and social consequences for the individual human being.” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33923935/

B. The first registry to allow parents to self-report negative consequences of mask wearing included more than 25,000 German children and listed the following impairments: irritability (60%), headache (53%), difficulty concentrating (50%), less happiness (49%), reluctance to go to school (44%), malaise (42%) and impaired learning (38%). https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-124394/v...

C. According to many medical professionals that spoke at a July 8th NJ Senate Committee hearing on school mask mandates, bacteria and pathogens that accumulate on the masks themselves can cause illness and compromise the immune system. https://rumble.com/vjn825-nj-senate-committee-hear...

7. The issue of wearing masks in school should NOT be used as a tool to mandate injection or to treat students differently based on injection status. The district should not make the ability to attend school without a mask contingent upon receiving a vaccination that has been minimally tested in children, with unknown long-term side effects. In fact, other countries such as the UK have opted not to recommend COVID shots for children and teens until more safety data on the shots becomes available. UK opts not to vaccinate most under-18s against COVID-19 - ABC News (go.com)

8. It’s also important to note that a number of NJ school districts (approaching 50 as of August) have already allowed for masks to be optional for Fall 2021. The current list, with additional districts pending, can be found here: https://www.unmasknjschools.com/plan

We believe parents should be able to perform their own risk assessment, considering all physical, mental, emotional and psychological risks and benefits for their own children when it comes to all medical decisions, including masking. We are in a new pandemic of mental illness exacerbated by COVID-19 protocols; it is critical that we return to normal. By signing this petition, we officially and respectfully request you make masking optional for all children in the Hillsdale Public School District.

Sincerely,

Concerned parents and citizens of Hillsdale NJ

Please sign and pass this on. We hope to get as many signatures as possible by August 13th.