This petition is in favor of mask choice for school aged children grades K-12.   We are calling on our school board and district personnel to not enforce a mask mandate and act in the best interest of our children.  Parents should have the choice of having their child wear a mask in school.  

there is not a mask mandate in the State of PA and the Governor recently announced there will not be one. 

With teachers, staff and other adults all having had the opportunity to be fully vaccinated, the perceived risk of children spreading the virus to adults has been removed.  The CDC has admitted that vaccinated people can be unmasked indoors with no social distancing required.   Furthermore, there is very low transmission rates (if at all) in Ross Township.  Allegheny County claims we are in a substantial risk zone. This is due to areas of the elderly and unvaccinated in Homewood, Braddock, Swissvale, just to name a few. 

There is no public health justification for forcing children to wear masks in school.  When balanced against the physical, mental and emotional harm that is now becoming evident, it is clear that masks do more harm than good including anxiety and depressive feelings. 

We are hoping the signatures on this petition will motivate North Hills to advocate for our children. Several other schools surrounding the district are also using common sense and letting the parents decide what is best for our children. We also know the common "our hands are tied due to CDC guidelines" response is not sufficient.  We are calling on our school board and district personnel to discontinue the mask mandate discussion and act in the best interest of our children.  Please proceed with the healthy and safety plan that was announced just a few weeks ago. No mask mandate!