Dear Board of Education Members:

As concerned citizens of Hannibal,  we were disappointed to hear of the board’s recent decision to make masks optional for the upcoming 2021-2022 school year.

We implore the board to reconsider this decision, based on recent CDC guidelines that
recommend the use of masks among both unvaccinated and fully vaccinated persons in an
indoor setting, especially in areas considered “hot spots” for covid-19.

Missouri is considered a “hot spot” for the virus, and the number of covid-19 cases in Marion
County has skyrocketed, due to a combination of lack of mask wearing, a low vaccination rate,
and large unmasked gatherings. This, combined with the start of school, is a recipe for covid-19
to run rampant among students and faculty/staff in our schools.

With the decision to end Pirate Virtual Academy, HHS in particular will be dealing with an influx
of students in the building, plus a larger than average incoming freshman class.

We ask you to consider the potentially devastating effect of covid-19 on our
nonverbal students, immune compromised students, and their families across the district.
It is our job, as educators, as parents, and as a school board, to protect those who cannot
protect themselves. Special needs students who may not be able to verbalize significant
symptoms of covid-19, such as problems with breathing, deserve to be protected.

Our students with underlying health issues and their families have a right to expect our schools
will take the most basic of cautionary measures to protect them. Mask wearing is the most
basic step our school community can take to prevent the transmission of covid-19.

Finally, we would ask the board to consider the long-term effects covid-19 will have on an
individual’s health. We are only beginning to see the long-term effects of this virus. Some
people who have contracted the virus a year ago still have no sense of smell. Their sense of taste may be permanently altered. They may still experience brain fog and fatigue. Why
unnecessarily risk the long-term health of our students and staff?

As we all learned last year, mask wearing, while inconvenient, isn’t the end of the world. Mask
wearing, combined with continuing our sanitation practices, is an effective way to prevent the closure of our schools and the transition to distance learning that may be required if the virus is allowed to spread freely among students, faculty, and staff.