The parents of Jefferson Twp Public School want mask optional for the upcoming school year. The district has not asked our opinion regarding this matter and we want to be heard. Our children need to get back to normal and forcing them to wear masks all day is not normal.

Please sign the petition and share with everyone in our district that wants masks to be optional.

1) Seeing facial expressions is key for kids making social connections, bonding, and for their emotional development.

2) It is hard to understand kids’ comments to each other and answers to a teacher when they are masked because their answers are muffled. Kids mumble; masks exacerbate that. It’s hard for students to understand teachers as well. Masks may be exacerbating speech delays.

3) Studies are beginning to come out about higher CO2 concentrations in masks after just a few minutes, so why are we forcing them for a full day of school? Learning needs maximum brain effort, so let’s not starve their brains of oxygen.

4) Everything is a risk- benefit analysis. Children are at a far lower risk of transmitting covid-19, and if they are sick they do not get it as seriously. Those children who are at high risk because of their health issues or weight may want to wear a mask, but it should be left to the discretion of their parents.

5) Schools across the US who did not mandate masks during the 2020-2021 school year did not have a higher rate of covid-19 in children.

6) Wearing masks may be suppressing children’s immunity against influenza and other strains of coronavirus, which will only harm their ability to fight off all viruses in the future. Again, mask-wearing is a risk-benefit analysis.

7) Our community has few cases of covid-19 and the transmission is low. Why force children to wear masks in this environment?