The federal head start Office has passed a mandate for children ages 2+ to start wearing masks in the classroom. In signing this petition we agree that this mandate goes against the wishes of the parents and staff of the head start programs. We do not consent to our children being subject to masking in the classroom. Our reasoning is that the proven phycological, social, and educational risks of wearing face coverings for such an extended time far outweigh the supposed benefits. 

Children ages 0-5 greatly rely on social cues from their peers and adults. The damage that covering their faces all day would do to their verbal skills and reading comprehension is far greater than the limited amount of cases of COVID-19 that have occurred in children of this age group. The head start program has successfully kept our children safe throughout this entire pandemic without masking in the classroom and we are fully confident in the staff's ability to continue to do so without the added stress of getting a classroom of 3-year-olds to keep masks on all day. 

In summary, we in signing this petition disagree with your mandate, and will not comply with it. We urge you to lift this mandate immediately before many of us are forced to withdraw our students from your program and hinder the education of our children. We should not even be having to choose between education and our children's social/emotional health yet here we are. Asking you to do what we feel is right for our children and drop the mask mandate for the head start program students.