The children and parents of Monroe County Public Schools are being affected because of the 8-10-2021 Board of Education vote, and approval, to mandate masks for teachers and students during school hours.  The decision was approved by a 4-3 vote, with one "yay" vote coming through phone attendance as opposed to being there in person.  

We, the concerned citizens of Monroe County, feel the mandate is harmful for multiple reasons:

 - Government Overreach : If the BOE is allowed to force kids to wear masks, what government control could they force in years to come?

 - Government Arrogance:  Why do a small board of people, while elected, get to determine what is best for the kids of Monroe County as opposed to parents?

 - Government Shortsightedness:  If science states that children are unlikely to be hospitalized due to COVID contraction, and that fully vaccinated adults (IE Teachers) have very little risk of being hospitalized due to COVID contraction, why then are masks being mandated because of a small group of people who are not vaccinated? 

 - Government Hypocrisy:  Why is the BOE only making recommendations for the classroom environments?  If they truly were concerned about the safety of children they would also try and influence other school sanctioned events such as MP Football Games?  This hypocrisy is a form of bullying for children.  

 - Government Weakness:  The weight of enforcing a mask mandate will fall on the already overworked, over stressed, and underpaid shoulders of the classroom teachers.  This is too much of a weight to bear. 

 - Government Lack of Connected Community Vision:  Before this decision was made studies, roundtables, and polls should have been conducted within the community to truly gauge the pulse of the parents, faith based leaders, business owners, health care professionals (this includes mental health professionals and school counselors), and law enforcement officers around this issue.  And no, one BOE meeting where only a handful of statistics and opinions were shared is thorough enough. A more proactive, thoughtful, and deeper dive into the minds and hearts of the community should have been committed before a decision was made. 

We ask for a change NOW to put choice of masking back in the hands of the parents.  We ask that the BOE would amend their masking guidelines and rules to state "highly recommend" as opposed to "mandate" concerning masking of children in our schools.