For the past 2+ years, performers from Broadway to school and community stages have had to hone their craft over zoom meetings or while wearing masks. Professional and community theater performances have returned without masks and it's been a joy for performers and audience members alike. But K-12 students at public schools in California are still not permitted to perform without masks.

Student athletes in sports such as basketball have been allowed to play without masks for months. With high profile advocates from the NBA, student athletes fought for the option to add regular testing and other safety measures so that athletes could fully compete. Band and orchestra students who play wind instruments are permitted to follow similar guidelines as well. These exemptions have been granted by the California Department of Public Health in section 16 of this K-12 Guidance and we fully support those decisions. We now ask to provide the same support to vocal performers in Choir, Drama and Musical Theater.

We petition Tomas J Aragon, MD, Dr.P.H., State Public Health Officer & Director and Sohil Sud, MD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics at UCSF and Co-Lead of the CA Safe Schools for All Team, to apply the same reasonable standard to performing arts students as student athletes and instrumental arts.

Student participation in Choir, Drama and Musical Theater, as well as audience attendance, is optional. Students who wish to continue to wear a mask may absolutely do so. Spring performances are around the corner and many productions are preparing to stage their shows with masks on. We need urgent action from CDPH!

Act now to stop:

• directors never seeing half of their performers' faces in preparation for show time
• audiences not really being able to connect with the performers
• microphones poorly fitted to amplify the sound thus inhibiting many hard of hearing audience members from being able to experience the performance
• the performers exerting themselves to sing and dance under hot lights, heavy costumes in a face covering - if you've ever sung seriously or performed in a musical, you know it is an athletic endeavor in its own right
• a cruel double standard that prioritizes athletics and instrumental music over singing and acting

Let them sing! Allow the performing arts to have the same safe and flexible options to support full student participation as indoor sports, band and orchestra.