500 signatures in 48 hours! Two "Calls to Action" from signers.

Thank you so much for all your support!  500 signatures is wonderful and we are so proud of our community, but unfortunately it is just not enough to achieve our goal!  We need your help!! We have two "Calls to Action" that we hope all of you consider!

First, not everyone is on social media to see our request.  As a matter of fact, I've spoken with numerous supporters who have left social media specifically because of the uninformed nastiness that occurs there.  In order to reach these "offline" people, some tremendous local community members have volunteered to helped us hand out fliers in their local neighborhoods.  But we need more help! 

Please send an email to AvonLakeParents4Masks@gmail.com if your commitment to our children's safety (and that of the entire community) is strong enough to volunteer a small amount of your time to help deliver this petition!  The petition is already prepared and can be emailed to you in PDF form.  All you need to do is print and deliver!  If the monetary costs of printing is a burden for you or your family, please simply let us know and we can help provide printed petitions to you!  Since the paper petitions have been circulating, we have seen an uptick in signatures!  Proof that these paper petitions work!  We just need more help from you to achieve our goal!

Second, we have prepared a new letter to our decision makers, Superintendent Robert Scott (robert.scott@avonlakecityschools.org) ,Assistant Superintendent Jack Dibee (Jack.Dibee@avonlakecityschools.org), and even included the Mayor Gregory Zilka (GZilka@avonlake.org).  If you've already signed the petition, please copy and paste the letter and email it to these officials at their provided professional email addresses.

Thank you for your continued support in protecting the lives and education of our children!!  

Dear Mr. Scott, Dr. Dibee, and Mayor Zilka:

Thank you for your attention to our cause and for your time in reading this letter.

As more Northeast Ohio schools are changing their policies and issuing new masking mandates everyday, we ask that you implement such a mask mandate to start the year at Avon Lake City Schools.

Bay Village and Westlake just recently changed their stance and have issued masking mandates for their students. These schools add to the ever growing list of schools in our area that have issued some degree of masking mandates for the 2021-22 school year, including: Lakewood, Rocky River, Lorain, Oberlin, Lake Ridge, Akron, Cleveland, Canton, Chagrin Falls, Garfield Hts., Shaker Hts., Twinsburg, Mentor, Solon, Cleveland State University, among others.

Aside from safety concerns, a masking mandate would help Avon Lake maintain its prestigious reputation among the most successful districts in Northeast Ohio. The failure to mandate masks will increase the risk of transmission of COVID-19 Delta Variant. One positive test will most likely lead to an entire classroom of children having to stay home, miss school, and quarantine.

This will lead to a significant amount of students (entire classrooms and possibly even entire schools), to miss large periods of classroom time and time with extracurriculars (including athletics and Avon Lake football). This prevents them from obtaining the necessary education and tools to compete with the students in the surrounding areas. This will unfortunately place our district behind in the ever increasing competition among local districts and their students whose education will not be interrupted to such a degree.

Schools without mask mandates in Mississippi, Texas, Indiana, Kentucky, Alabama, and others, have been forced to fully close entire school buildings due to COVID-19 Delta Variant outbreaks. Such an event in Avon Lake would be a permanent black eye on our tremendous school system. We must help prevent our students from falling behind and losing the competitive edge with other local districts. This includes not only educational problems, but continuing participation in Avon Lake Football and athletic events, along with other extracurriculars. Using masks is proven to slow the spread of COVID-19 and will help make sure that our comparative status amongst these other local schools will remain intact.

It goes without saying that children under 12 cannot be vaccinated, making them particularly vulnerable to the Delta Variant of COVID-19. As a community, we stand with the pleas from the CDC, American Academy of Pediatrics, the Ohio Department of Health, and Gov. Mike DeWine that, for the safety of our children and our community, masking mandates in schools among unvaccinated children is a necessity for their safety and the hope of a school year with minimal interruptions in this already difficult world that we live in today.

Please see our petition page, along with updates, to obtain more information regarding why we believe that mask mandates protect our children and the surrounding community from outbreaks of the COVID-19 Delta Variant. Dr. Claudia Hoyen, Director of Infectious Control at UH Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital has stated that the Delta Variant is very different from previous variants, stating, "It's not the elderly this time. It's the children. Things are certainly starting to increase in terms of the number of kids that we're seeing." <a href="https://fox8.com/news/ohio-experts-concerned-over-growing-impact-of-delta-variant-on-kids/" rel="nofollow">https://fox8.com/news/ohio-experts-concerned-over-growing-impact-of-delta-variant-on-kids/</a>

Our petition has over 500 signatures within the first 48 hours of existence. It can be found here: <a href="https://www.change.org/RequiringMasksInAvonLakeCitySchools" rel="nofollow">https://www.change.org/RequiringMasksInAvonLakeCitySchools</a>

Please read the petition and take a look at the incredibly strong response we have received from the community with over 500 signatures within the first 48 hours. We believe that the majority of parents and community members want a mask mandate but are being drowned out by a loud, vocal minority.

Thank you, again, for your time and attention to this matter.