https://docs.google.com/document/d/1U1wrZz8PFG8atZ5gi7k55mxvHpxs8PjyiVnqGnUeO8E/edit
Please email marco@themontessori.org or npappas@greenwichhouse.org if you are interested in signing on to this letter.
March 8, 2022
Mayor Eric Adams
City of New York
City Hall
New York, NY 10007
To Mayor Adams,
We are directors of preschool, childcare, 3K & Pre-K programs throughout New York City. Last week, we were disappointed to learn that children aged 2 - 4 would be the only New Yorkers required to wear a mask moving forward. According to the City, State and CDC’s data, children under 4 are at an exceedingly low risk of serious COVID illness, with extremely low mortality rates. Moreover, when you remove those under 2, who aren’t required to mask, hospitalization rates for unvaccinated 2 - 4 year olds are lower than vaccinated adults, despite no vaccination being available to them. We believe the statistics on hospitalizations you cite are skewed by the 0-1 age group who cannot mask. Children under 1 are immediately admitted to emergency rooms when presenting with a fever and are not relevant to this discussion on masks for preschool-age children in NYC.
What is more troubling is that we know firsthand that younger kids face serious drawbacks while masking, despite the limited public health benefit, including negative impacts on learning, social and speech development. Studies continue to demonstrate the highly negative trade offs for this age group. Most countries around the world have chosen not to mask those under 5 in the first place and why the World Health Organization has always recommended against it. Furthermore, the CDC also does not require students to wear masks (no age is specified) when the Community Level is considered “low.”
Since you understand and often discuss the need to expand early childhood education and consistently advocate for investment in programs like ours, we urge you to reconsider the continued masking requirement for our youngest children.
Nicole Pappas Ferrin
Director
Barrow Street Nursery School
Ilysa Winick
Founder
Reade Street Prep
Marco R. Ciocca
Founder
The Montessori Schools
Jordana Fruchter
Director
My Little School
Rachel Mintz
Director
Jewish Community Project
Jane Racoosin
Director
Beginnings Nursery School
Kate Delacorte & Meredith Gary
Founders
Downtown Little School
Kristen Pallonetti
Program Director
TriBeCa Community School
Cathy Fuerst
Head of the Preschool
Saint Ann’s School
Mimi Basso
Head of School
West Side Montessori School
Amy Warden
Director
Brick Church School
Felicia Gordon
Director
The Brownstone School
Amy Rockwell
Executive Director
Manhattan Schoolhouse
Linda Ensco
Director
Buckle My Shoe Preschool
Sarah Hecht & Dini Reichman
Directors
Chai Tots Preschool
Danny Karpf
Head of School
Rodeph Sholom School
Christina Pantazis-Blades
Administrative Director
Brooklyn Waldorf School
Andrew Slater
Head of School
Guidepost Montessori at Museum Mile
Jackie Meltzer
School Director
Bridge Community Play School
Milana Shabekova
Director of Early Childhood Education
JCC Brooklyn
Betsy Newell
Early Childhood Educator
Scott Moran
Principal
City and Country School
Chanie Krasnianski
Director
Chabad Preschool
Michelle Dayan
Executive Director
The SAM School
cc:
The Hon. Kathy Hochul, Governor
The Hon. Vanessa Gibson, Bronx Borough President
The Hon. Antonio Reynoso, Brooklyn Borough President
The Hon. Mark Levine, Manhattan Borough President
The Hon. Vito Fossella, Staten Island Borough President
The Hon. Donovan Richards, Queens Borough President
The Hon. Adrienne Adams, NYC Council Speaker
The Hon. Rita Joseph, Chair, NYC Council Committee on Education
The Hon. Lynn Schulman, Chair, NYC Council Committee on Health
Kara Ahmed, EdD, Deputy Chancellor, NYC Department of Education
Dave A. Chokshi, MD, MSc, Commissioner, NYC Department of Health & Mental Hygiene
Simone C. Hawkins, Assistant Commissioner, Bureau of Child Care, NYC Department of & Mental Hygiene