We, the undersigned residents, students, teachers, parents, grandparents, caregivers, and concerned citizens of Massachusetts urge state leaders to end the DESE mask mandate when it expires on February 28, 2022, making masking in schools optional for all students, teachers, and staff regardless of vaccination status.  

Further, with no public health state of emergency in place and vaccinations available to all who want them, local districts should not have the authority to require masking for its students, teachers, or staff. Given clear learning and educational impacts of prolonged masking, state leaders must hold schools accountable for continuing restrictions that disrupt student learning.

A mask-optional approach allows students the ability to see emotions, hear language, and experience connection in an unrestricted learning environment.  The past 18 months have shown that, in the absence of state accountability, local districts (school committees, superintendents, boards of health, etc.) will default to more restrictive protocols, not based in evidence and above and beyond state public health guidelines.

Students need an educational environment in which they can recover from the ongoing isolation, stress, and disruption over the last 18 months.  A mask optional environment, regardless of vaccination status, will allow this recovery to begin.