August 2021
From Jason Roberts
Dear Board and Superintendent:
I ask that you take time to carefully read my thoughts. Contained in this letter are 60 different references to credible sources (several from the CDC) that will support by opinion regarding your decision to mandate masks.
It is possible to be in favor of something but opposed to it being mandatory. It is possible to be against something but not in favor of it being banned. Smart people understand this. Our Board of Education is smart. I hope they continue to be smart.
I am writing to voice my support for parent choice as it relates to mandating mask on school grounds and during school sponsored events. If the Board is truly looking at the mounds of conflicting research published in peer reviewed reputable medical journals, they will see there isn’t clear proof that wearing a mask has a significant impact on COVID-19 disease infection or transmission.
The scientific evidence when viewed collectively also suggests masks (surgical and cloth masks) as they are currently being used and recommended, are ineffective in reducing transmission
(references 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25).
Evidence is also growing on the potential dangers of wearing and mandating masks (references 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23).
Very recent data now shows that children not only have a low risk but that they actually have the capability of evading the SARS-CoV-2 virus (reference 1, 2).
Our children are luckily not affected negatively by COVID-19. Yes, there have been hospitalizations. Yes there have been a few deaths, but for some reason we have focused incessantly on the hospitalizations and deaths and used that as justification for unproven mandates that potentially do more harm than good. As of this writing, there have been 6 juvenile deaths due to COVID-19 in 2021 in Ohio (appendix A). During the same period, there have been 61 deaths due to automobile accidents in the state of Ohio (Appendix B). Is our Board of Education going to mandate that all children walk to school to avoid the potential for death in a vehicle? Of course they wouldn’t. That would be preposterous. Mandating a mask and social distancing would be just as unwarranted.
County health recommendations are not based in any new research because county health departments do not conduct research. They simply follow guidance from the state health department. The state health department follows guidance from the Centers for Disease Control. Any reasonable person will see that our current CDC is inept in their actions and infected by political bias and media pressure.
It is unimaginable how the state and county health departments recognized that we were safe to sit in a restaurant indoors with no mask on, yet our children are not safe sitting a classroom with no mask on. And the same health department recommended in February 2021 that children potentially exposed to a confirmed COVID infected individual be placed in a modified quarantine where they could attend classes but not participate in extracurricular activities. Again, any reasonable educated person would see that these recommendations are based is bias and not scientific fact.
If you are properly fit tested for a N95 mask, one of the determining steps is the smell test (references 1, 2, 3). While wearing the mask, a strong odor is released. If you can smell the odor, then the mask doesn’t fit. It is proven that a contaminate would circumvent the mask. Now, try this with a cloth mask or paper mask. Light a match and see if you can smell the smoke. You most certainly will. SARS-CoV-2 is an enveloped virus ≈0.1 μm in diameter. A paper or cloth mask will not filter out particles this small.
Viruses are often transmitted through respiratory droplets produced by coughing and sneezing. Respiratory droplets are usually divided into two sizes, large droplets (>5 μm in diameter) that fall rapidly to the ground and are thus transmitted only over short distances, and small droplets (≤5 μm in diameter). Small droplets can remain suspended in air for significant periods of time and could be inhaled through paper and cloth masks. Larger droplets can saturate paper and cloth masks. Touching the mask and face will infect the host.
The Centers for Disease Control focuses on viruses and virus-like diseases. Their recommendations are guidelines. These guidelines usually do not account for related affects like childhood cognitive development and mental health issues. The CDC reported an increase in suicides of 31% in the proportion of mental health-related emergency department visits among adolescents aged 12-17 years in 2020 (reference 1). The research states “Young persons might represent a group at high risk because they might have been particularly affected by mitigation measures, such as physical distancing (including a lack of connectedness to schools, teachers, and peers)”. Social distancing and mask wearing are leading factors for the lack of connectedness.
Young children look for emotional cues from caregivers to interpret behavior or potentially threatening situations (references 1, 2). Wearing masks can have a deleterious effect on the long-term development of our children. Is this risk worth it for something that has shown little to no effect on mitigating COVID-19 spread? I suggest that the risk/reward balance here is highly skewed towards the risk of reduction in social/emotional development as well as social referencing.
I would prefer to see our board spend focused time on continuing to improve building ventilation. Also, our children are behind in their learning after last year’s lockdown, especially in core classes. I would rather see our board focus on what needs to be done in the classroom to get our children back to where they should be had learning progressed without interruption.
Wearing a mask should be an individual’s choice. For those with high health risk or high anxiety, we are providing a second learning option that they may find is better for their individual situation. This Option 2 choice is at an additional financial cost to our community as well. I feel our school district has made reasonable attempts to accommodate those that are high risk or in fear of contracting COVID-19. They can choose option 2 for learning, they can choose to get vaccinate and they can choose to wear a mask. The board should follow the science and allow everyone to make the choice that is best for their children and family situation. The board should avoid forcing a mask mandate as it only serves to protect the board politically and to provide a safety blanket to make some people feel safer while doing the opposite.
Please review the appendices below. Sincerely,
Jason Roberts
Appendix A
Appendix B
