We, the undersigned parents and students of Almond Acres Charter Academy and community members, appeal to the leaders of our school to adopt a policy to defer mask choice for students to each family, and mask choice for staff and volunteers to each individual for indoor and outdoor activities while on campus. 

It is unnecessary and unhealthy for children and staff to wear masks.  We now have data to show the negative effects of masking people, especially children.  “A new study, involving over 25,000 school-aged children, reports that masks are harming children physically, psychologically, and behaviorally, revealing 24 distinct health issues associated with wearing masks.”  Prinicipia Scientific, February 15, 2021.   In a recently publicized lab report from the University of Florida’s Mass Spectrometry Research & Education Center, masks used by children after a day of school were sent for analysis.  The lab report showed half of the masks were contaminated with pneumonia-causing bacteria, one-third were contaminated with strains of meningitis-causing bacteria, and one-third were contaminated with dangerous, antibiotic-resistant bacterial pathogens, not to mention numerous other less dangerous pathogens.  We also have data to show that children are not significant drivers of the spread of the virus, and children are not as likely to become seriously ill or die from the virus.  Regarding SLO county data in the 0-17 age group from March 2020 to August 2021, there have been 2000 documented covid cases (9% of all cases), 10 hospitalizations (0.05% of all cases) and zero deaths (0%).  Children in this age group have a 100% recovery rate in SLO county.  Further evidence from the CDC confirms that the difference in infection rates between schools that did and did not require students to wear masks was not statistically significant (NPR, May 21, 2021).  

As the adults, we are expected not only to protect our children, but to ensure that our sons and daughters thrive.  As parents, we are concerned about the long-term consequences that will inevitably come from the forced masking of our children.  The Lancet Journal of Child & Adolescent Health notes that “the negative effects of antisocial measures may profoundly affect adolescents because they’re at a crucial stage of their lives where their social environment has an enormous impact on many vital functions such as brain development, self-construction, and mental health.”  We believe parents/families have the right to perform their own risk assessment, considering all physical, mental, emotional and spiritual aspects of their own children when it comes to medical decisions, including mandatory masking and experimental vaccinations.

We are officially requesting that mask choice be left to each individual family. We expect you to vote on this matter immediately to approve a resolution in favor of mask choice for all students, staff, and volunteers at Almond Acres Charter Academy in Paso Robles, CA.

Respectfully,

All the Almond Acres Charter Academy families and community members who have signed this petition