This petition reflects the beliefs of KCA parents who feel it is important to Let Parents Choose Whether to Unmask/Mask their Children at School. With vaccines now readily available, KCA teachers, staff, and students desiring to be vaccinated have had the opportunity to do so. Therefore, we feel it is imperative that parents be given the right to choose what is best for their own children. Standard cloth and surgical masks offer next to no protection against virus-sized particles or small aerosols. There have been hundreds of mask studies related to influenza transmission over several decades. It is a well-established fact that masks do not stop viruses. "Part of that evidence shows that cloth facemasks actually increase influenza-linked illness." Bacteria are 50x larger than virus particles. As such, virus particles can enter through the mask pores, yet bacteria remain trapped inside of the mask, resulting in the mask-wearer continually exposed to the bacteria.

Additionally, children have been repeatedly shown not to be drivers of this contagion. It is well-accepted that children have a statistically zero chance of dying from COVID. The K-12 mortality rate from or with COVID is .00003. Since children have the lowest death rate from COVID infection, the cost-benefit of requiring children to wear a face-covering with emerging safety issues is especially difficult to justify.

We feel it is imperative that we allow our children to return to a normal learning environment. There is nothing normal about covering your nose and mouth, especially for children. The psychological and emotional damage, fears, and anxiety being instilled in our youth by forcing them to wear masks is detrimental. Not being heard clearly and not being able to see social cues from peers and educators is not a healthy learning environment. The well-being of children and young people is highly dependent on an emotional connection with others.

We respectfully request that the Board give KCA parents the right to choose what is best for their own children. If the Board declines this request, we ask that board members agree to meet with concerned parents to further discuss this issue.