We, the undersigned Windham residents, many of whom are parents of children in the Windham School District, express our unequivocal support for the district’s decision to allow parents to choose whether or not their children wear masks in school buildings. We respectfully request that the district and school board continue the plan as it was drafted and affirmed by a 3-2 vote of the board on August 24, 2021.

Publicly available data from the New Hampshire DHHS makes it clear that while children in New Hampshire represent more than 20,000 positive Covid tests, they account for less than 2% of all hospitalized cases in the state. Thankfully, children have accounted for 0 Covid deaths in New Hampshire. As reported by the CDC, 55,352 children in the US have died from various causes since the start of the Covid pandemic. Only 412 of those children have died with Covid. As of this writing, Covid has been present in only .74% of pediatric deaths nationwide.

The likelihood of young children acting as vectors of viral transmission, the role of schools in the proliferation of cases, and the efficacy of masks in halting transmission are all to some extent debatable. However, one thing that we believe is not debatable is that parents have both the capacity and the moral obligation to choose whether a face covering during the school day is an appropriate course for their child. We ask that the school board continue to affirm that they respect and support the freedom of choice for each and every family in the community by keeping masks optional, as indicated by the 3-2 vote of the board on September 24, 2021, and as preferred by the below listed residents of Windham.

**The parent's of Windham School District are asking for Windham, NH Resident signatures in support of a continued Parent's choice mask protocol for all Windham Schools.**

**To join our cause you can find us on Facebook via www.facebook.com/groups/unmaskwindhamnh**