The parents of Millstone Township request that you create an agenda item for your next board meeting to vote on making masks OPTIONAL for students in ALL grades for the 2021-2022 academic school year. As of now, the school district has not shared or expressed their plans for reopening in September. Parents who wish to send their children to school unmasked should be able to do so without facing discrimination or penalty to the child. 

A recent study conducted by the University of Witten asked parents to disclose the side effects their children experienced from wearing masks. 18,000 parents responded and over half the parents revealed that their children suffered from headaches and the inability to concentrate. As stated in the article, " mask-wearing makes it harder for young children to develop linguistic skills and prevents children with hearing impairments from lip reading. Unable to rely on facial cues, teachers and students of all ages are more likely to misinterpret one other, a particularly acute problem for children on the autism spectrum" (Tierney, 2021). Masks impede the safety and education of our children. 

Parents who do not wish to mask their children should have the same right and liberty as those who do wish to mask their children. Masks for the 2021-2022 school year should be and remain OPTIONAL. Mask choice is NEEDED. It is the FAIR option. We will NOT be forced to send our children to school with masks if we do not feel comfortable with that choice. The parents of Millstone Township School District would like answers regarding this matter sooner rather than later. 

Parents: It's time to take a stand and the time is NOW. Sign the petition and let our voices be heard!

Reference:

Masking Children Is Unnecessary—and Harmful | City Journal (city-journal.org)