Summary

The petition represents concerned parents, students, and other members of the St Michael the Archangel Catholic School Community (“SMA”) who are against the recent mask mandate of Aug 5th. Rather, we support giving students and parents the option to wear masks, making it a personal choice, rather than a requirement that is not supported by the County’s own statistics.

Opposing the Mandate
On behalf of the parents and individuals listed in this petition, we oppose and reject the mandate for children of any grade requiring them to wear masks during school. We don’t deny that COVID-19 is a devastating virus that should be approached with prudence, science and data to develop guidance that protects the most vulnerable in our population without compromising our most inalienable human right of liberty and personal choice.

Supporting Personal Choice
Our unwavering support also extends to those that choose to wear masks to meet the personal needs of their family, friends and loved ones. We support parental choice.

Decision not Substantiated by the Data
The studies and recommendations within the health and scientific community are conflicting at best with geographies, populations and demographics impacted differently. We are left with relying on data within our own community. When reviewing data provided by Johnson County Dept of Health and Environment by Age Groups, since March 7, 2020 through August 6, 2021, ages 0-19 represented 9,928 confirmed cases (1.65% of total county population), 49 total hospitalizations (0.01% of total county population) and 4 cases (0.00% of total county population) that resulted in ICU. There are zero (0) deaths within this age group. Furthermore, there is growing concern over the long term mental and social well-being that could provide incalculable devastation including stress, anxiety, distractions, difficulty learning and more. The only thing the data suggests is children are not the vulnerable population and parents should make the appropriate decisions based on their own needs.

Rights as a Parochial School
The petitioners below urge community leaders to make the necessary decisions to protect the liberties and freedom afforded to us by our constitution and being a parochial school.

PLEASE FORWARD TO ANYONE WHO MAY BE INTERESTED IN SUPPORTING OUR KIDS!

APPENDIX
1: Johnson County COVID-19 Dashboards: https://maps.jocogov.org/covid19/
2: Age Groups Tab: https://viz.jocogov.org/t/Public/views/covid19_joco_epi_dashboard/Story1?:iid=1&:isGuestRedirectFromVizportal=y&:embed=y