It is difficult to make sense of the governor's recent decision to rescind the in-school mask mandates that have protected children for much of this pandemic. Despite the decision by the governor, we understand that Franklin Township Public Schools can issue its own mask mandate to govern the schools and buildings under its jurisdiction. This petition asks just that.

It is not sensible to stop protecting ourselves because cases have slowed. Time and time again, this virus has shown that when we remove protections it will surge and pull us back into worse predicaments: when we ended stay-at-home orders, the virus surged; when vaccines became available and we ended mask mandates, the virus surged and Delta killed thousands; now that Omicron numbers are slowing, we are back to doing the same thing over again. There's an aphorism that says insanity is doing the same thing over again and expecting difference results.

The virus is not done mutating, we have not been given protections for our youngest and most vulnerable children, and despite any immunization boost, we've still seen the ability of this virus to infect any and everyone! There is no logic which would make rescinding a mask mandate at this time sensible. No legitimate science or sociological understanding of the nature of our communities supports such a move. It is a political move made to quiet very loud critics with little credibility with respect to any aspect of science related to virology, vaccines and infectious disease spread.

While we respect the right of everyone to have their liberty, we understand that this nation's Founding Fathers were very deliberate in their expression of our original tenets: First Life, THEN Liberty, followed by the pursuit of happiness. Where your liberty infringes upon my right to live, your liberties must step aside. Somehow, we've forgotten the ultimate unifying American phrase -- e pluribus unum, out of many one -- where we once believed that our many voices could unify to push forward a singular important goal. Here, it is the safety and protection of our most vulnerable and yet sacred treasure -- our kids.

Do the right thing and continue to mandate masks for children in and around our schools and anyone entering into any District buildings.