Chatham County School Board should vote to make masks optional for students in the 2021-22 school year

By Mia Munn

Pittsboro, NC – Many school boards in North Carolina have already voted to make masks for kids optional in 2021-22 school year. I ask that you do the same, and make this school year as normal as possible for all students.

Why? See the graphic and links below.

(I am asking that this be added to the minutes of the Jul 19, 2021 Chatham County School board meeting)

click on image to enlarge

1. osf.io/ezdf2/
2. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/10/health/coronavirus-children.html
3. https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/514948-restore-our-lives-using-medical-science-data-and-common-sense
4. https://www.bbc.com/news/health-53932294
5. https://www.cmaj.ca/content/193/17/E601
6. https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.11.01.20222315v1
7. https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.11.01.20222315v1
8. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3668418
9. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/jmv.26394
10. https://www.journalofinfection.com/article/S0163-4453(21)00209-7/fulltext
11. https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008559
12. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/277410213. https://journals.asm.org/doi/full/10.1128/JCM.02593-2014. https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.04.16.21255616v115. https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/pediatrics/early/2021/03/05/peds.2021-050605.full.pdf16. https://www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.26.1.2002011#abstract_content17. https://earlylearningnation.com/2020/08/lets-talk-about-the-encouraging-covid-experience-of-u-s-child-care-programs/18. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/pupils-pose-no-risk-of-spreading-covid-27q6zfd9l19.https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/147/1/e2020031971.long20. https://www.cream-migration.org/publ_uploads/CDP_22_20.pdf21. https://www.nber.org/papers/w2861922. http://outbreaknewstoday.com/sweden-report-teachers-do-not-have-a-higher-risk-of-being-infected-with-covid-19-49944/23. https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/147/4/e202004809024. https://www.npr.org/2020/10/21/925794511/were-the-risks-of-reopening-schools-exaggerated25. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/19/nyregion/schools-coronavirus.html26. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/going-to-school-does-not-increase-risk-of-young-children-catching-coronavirus-56bk8kp3x?region=global27. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/08/23/reopening-schools-june-not-single-child-hospitalised-coronavirus/?WT.mc_id=tmgliveapp_androidshare_Avz4yyvYF8nm28. https://watson.brown.edu/taubman/news/2020/feared-coronavirus-outbreaks-schools-yet-arrive-early-data-shows-interview-emily-oster29.https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2020/09/28/florida-schools-reopened-en-mass-feared-covid-surge-hasnt-followed/3557417001/30. https://www.wwno.org/education/2020-11-09/data-provides-no-indication-covid-19-is-spreading-in-new-orleans-k-12-schools31. https://www.politico.com/states/new-jersey/story/2020/11/18/unicef-schools-are-not-main-drivers-of-covid-among-kids-133711932. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(20)30882-3/fulltext33. https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/pediatrics/early/2021/01/06/peds.2020-048090.full.pdf34.  https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/children-cannot-afford-another-year-school-disruption35. https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/just-1-300-school-pupils-2403563336. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/23/mit-researchers-say-youre-no-safer-from-covid-indoors-at-6-feet-or-60-feet-in-new-study.html?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=news_tab&utm_content=algorithm37.https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(20)30985-3/fulltext38. https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/covid-19-face-masks-community-first-update.pdf39. https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.02.18.21251986v1.full.pdf40. https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/L20-129241. https://www.city-journal.org/do-we-need-mask-mandates42. https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/covid-19/questions-answers/questions-answers-school-transmission43. https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/q-a-children-and-masks-related-to-covid-1944. https://www.thv11.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/schools-urging-parents-to-wash-kids-mask-as-many-are-coming-to-class-with-filthy-ones/91-3918588a-3df0-474f-868e-ff0cd735c4d045. https://wset.com/news/coronavirus/abc13-investigates-how-dirty-is-your-face-mask46. https://kesq.com/news/2020/10/23/are-you-washing-your-mask-frequently-enough-health-officials-discuss-risks-of-improper-mask-care/47. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/02/the-most-common-ways-were-wearing-face-masks-incorrectly48. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/08/21/sweden-stands-firm-face-masks-anders-tegnell-refuses-copy-countries/?utm_content=telegraph&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=159808436049.  https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/02/24/schools-told-not-punish-pupils-refuse-wear-masks/50. https://thetexan.news/texas-school-boards-shedding-mask-mandates/51. https://www.wpr.org/after-student-walkout-medford-schools-become-latest-lift-mask-requirements52. https://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/education/ten-wyoming-school-districts-no-longer-require-face-masks/article_4beb3bf3-9bba-576d-90eb-e77e8f2bd4da.html53. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc202667054.  https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2021/03/08/rural-peaster-isd-texas-masks-distancing-students-academically/55. https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/denmark-schools-covid-19-pandemic-1.572050856. https://floridapolitics.com/archives/420469-richard-corcoran-districts-can-make-facemasks-voluntary-for-new-school-year/
57. https://statsiq.co1.qualtrics.com/public-dashboard/v0/dashboard/5f78e5d4de521a001036f78e#/dashboard/5f78e5d4de521a001036f78e?pageId=Page_ffb4dc52-5543-46b2-8126-2b7229fd1b17
58. https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/opinion/columnists/ex-school-principal-education-and-socialisation-cannot-happen-behind-a-mask-3194054
59. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/masks-can-be-detrimental-to-babies-speech-and-language-development1/
60. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/08/26/school-masks-potential-damage-speech-development-far-greater/
61. https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/lonely-world-10-year-old-20474208
62. https://researchautism.org/the-challenge-of-face-masks/63. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/19/charities-fear-impact-of-masks-on-deaf-children-in-uk-schools64. https://www.canoncitydailyrecord.com/2021/05/05/family-de-boarded-southwest-airlines-disability/65. https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-124394/v266. https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/8/434467. https://www.ecotextile.com/2021040127603/dyes-chemicals-news/exclusive-chemical-cocktail-found-in-face-masks.html68. https://healthycanadians.gc.ca/recall-alert-rappel-avis/hc-sc/2021/75309a-eng.php69. https://chemicalwatch.com/172819/danish-companies-forced-to-recall-face-masks-treated-with-biocides70. https://montanadailygazette.com/2021/01/25/new-study-finds-masks-hurt-schoolchildren-physically-psychologically-and-behaviorally/
71. https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/8/4344
72. https://www.bmj.com/content/370/bmj.m3021/rr-673. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7680614/