An open letter to the LCPS School Board, Part 1: Nov 1 meeting's masks in school's vote
Attention: Lenoir County School Board
From: Michael Thomas, Parent
RE: Nov 1 Meeting – Masks in Schools Vote, Medical Testing of Student / Subjects, Violation of Board Responsibility, and Disregard for Parents Authority in Health-Related Decisions
Date: November 2, 2021
Please be advised this letter is intended to rebut your arguments over the masking of children in schools, and ultimately regain the power of parents to rightfully decide on health measures for our children in school, just as we have the freedom and authority to do so in our homes, and in public. As parents we take the safety of our children seriously. We are capable of deciding when to remove training wheels, enforcing the use of helmets and seat belts, whether to go to the ER or use Neosporin, and deciding with informed consent whether to allow our children to participate in school sports fully understanding the dangers. Although I might point out the education system does not provide parents with data on the risks of playing sports to include the annual number of injuries or deaths. There is a great deal of money generated by school sports; I’m all for it, but it is a fact.
This is notice that I am not asking your permission to send my child to school without a mask. Those efforts by others, as kind and congenial as they were, were met with total disregard, and are now over. My request wouldn’t be quite as kind. We, those of us who choose, will not be sending our children with masks. And school staff may not require them when they arrive. This is our decision, not yours.
I will point out the hypocrisy in your masking rule. Highlight the falsehoods and politically driven one-sided arguments preceding your vote, and advise you that continuing along this path constitutes a violation of our children’s rights as citizens not to be used as medical research subjects. I am happy to provide actual data and scientific study to oppose your subjective and anecdotal opinion and the bogus reports you use to support your position. Although I do believe diligent and thorough research is your responsibility.
You should reconvene for a special session and by the end of this week record a vote to make masks in school optional.
Here are my points:
I understand the rules in place for conducting a meeting, and I’m familiar with Roberts's Rules of Order (unlike the Chairman). However, these are special times. Allowing a parent only 3 minutes to present to the board is absurd. There is no possible way to fully relay an argument especially when you know the task is changing minds. Seeing that only two parents asked to speak, and understanding the levity of their concern, a motion could be made to stretch their time, seconded, voted, and approved. This would have been too simple, and too considerate of the parents’ feelings and time. You invited a special guest “expert” with a prescribed opinion, void of data and facts, blatantly dismissing parental authority (which she openly admitted after the meeting), specifically to support your preformed opinion. You elevated Ms. Brown as an expert. Ms. Brown is a government employee funded by the state of NC through taxpayer dollars. As nice as she is, she is not a health expert, not a Dr, not a scientist, has not to my knowledge written any papers or opinions or conducted studies on the effects of masks. She simply has access to the same information that we all do. You offered Ms. Brown an open forum without placing her on a 3-minute clock. You asked her loaded questions intended to support your position (you asked the parents no questions). The most telling, and frankly the most dangerous to your position was your question Mr. Anderson: you asked “Is it possible that the mask mandate that is present in the school system is helping to bring down the numbers in Lenoir County?” Ms. Brown answered yes. You then voted. Are you kidding me? this is science? “Is it possible…”? This is conjecture and opinion. No proof. No data. These are our children. 2 parents offered you actual science and data, you disregarded it. And you went with – ‘is it possible’. I ask - is it possible that the decline in cases and hospitalizations are due to other factors and have nothing at all to do with masks in schools? The answer is also absolutely yes. In fact, the data suggests it is most likely. Any person with ½ an ounce of intellect and reasoning skills can understand that children in K – 12 school do not wear masks appropriately; they fall on the ground, get traded, are in kids mouths, get soaked from sweat and saliva, get stuck in pockets and book bags, etc.
You were asked. I should say required as a condition of SB 654 to institute a mask policy. The bill is unclear that masking is required, just that a policy is required. However, the NC Dept of Health and Human Services clarifies their “strong recommendation is to adopt a policy requiring”. Then it’s up to you to vote monthly on any modifications. It should also be acknowledged and clear to all involved that the bill is built specifically to provide relief funding; a whole lot of funding. With various new rules on reporting, restrictions on reporting for underperforming schools, remote and virtual learning, calendar year, etc. All tied together and in the name of Covid, with one small tiny section on a mask policy.
Where is the actual policy? And if it’s in place to protect the health of our children, then where are the supporting protocols? One would think that something of this importance would surely have protocols for parents, staff, and students on the proper wearing, disposal, washing, storage, etc. of a health-related PPE (personal protective equipment). It should have included the dangers associated with wearing for too long, when to take a break, where to dispose of, etc. But no policy or protocol was provided; Just a mandate to check a box and be eligible for the money.
It gets better…
The statement mentioned above from the NCDHHS also includes some interesting facts. Schools are required to comply with “Control Measures” just as they would for any pandemic outbreak. They include contact tracing, quarantine, isolation, and exclusion. This means if a faculty member determines or suspects that a child is infected with Covid they are required to go through the appropriate measures. But, NOT for not wearing a mask, much less for not properly wearing a mask. So when a student removes their mask or presents to school without one, and a faculty member isolates them or excludes them, they are either assuming for some reason they are infected with a communicable disease, or and most likely they have moved into a Disciplinary Measure. This means the child is now being disciplined for not wearing a mask – isolated, embarrassed, singled out, and potentially threatened at least psychologically. This removes free will, removes informed consent, and creates force. What’s worse is in the cases I’m familiar with, the Principal and / or Teacher personally disagrees with the mask rule, but has no choice if they want to remain employed. Now you’re forcing employees against their will and good judgment to enforce your policies on medical-related measures.
Ms. Brown clearly stated in the meeting that you and they needed a few more weeks to be sure the decline in numbers is a true trend. She said that recently NC all counties were in the red, and in the last few weeks some have improved but Lenoir is still in the danger zone. This is blatantly false. Their own website clearly shows a drastic decline for Lenoir County in the last 2 weeks indicating we’re in the bottom class with 181 cases per 100,000 residents and 158 deaths per 100,000 residents. And you justify masking our children with these percentages. The flu had greater percentages than this back when we actually tested for it. Incidences and deaths for almost every other conceivable normal activity reflect a case and death rate greater than this. Neighboring counties with greater cases and death rates just voted masks optional, you refuse to and it makes me very curious as to why. Either you care not about the data, you’re being led by fear, you have some other politically driven motives, or as some in the community say – you just enjoy the power. I don’t know you well enough to assume and form a judgment, but all indications are it’s one or a combination of all.
You have provided ZERO support for an opinion that masks are beneficial, stop, or even slow the spread of a virus, no research, no data, no concentrated trials, no studies. There exists ample evidence to suggest masks do nothing. No one in a position of authority is consistent or follows their own mandates, from the school board to the top, and yes that includes each of you. One of you had your mask down while trying to argue you always wear it, and I am confident that you do not, nor do you sit between plexiglass barriers in your personal lives. It is clear what you’re doing is theater, a poor attempt at leadership, and an affront to our intelligence. Since I’m quite sure no one else has told you this, I’ll be very honest – it looks ridiculous. Someone, maybe one of you, though you would create an appearance of leading from the front, I’m sorry but it looks like we took the most terrified of the cadets and placed them on the front lines and asked them to lead. It’s not working. A few of you will be replaced soon enough. In the meantime prepare to be held accountable for this decision. Unless of course, you decide to exercise good judgment and change your decision quickly.
Mr. Smith, you stated during the mask discussion that you “like to cite your sources and do your research”. You didn’t research. What you read from was the front page of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Certainly a resource in opinion and journals in pediatric medicine and policies. You printed a little information that supported your opinion and declared it science. What you read was excerpts of recommendations by the AAP, again backed by no mask research or data. If you had actually researched you might have found many studies warning of the risks of masks. You might have found a study in 2004 coauthored by Fauci declaring masks carried no benefit. You might have also found studies out of Harvard, Samford, Johns Hopkins, and even global studies doing everything from questioning the use of masks to declaring them useless in preventing spread. You could easily find data on Countries, Regions, States, and Counties that dropped masks and immediately saw Covid decline to almost zero. Equally important, if you were going to cite a statement and source and call it a scientific guideline, you might have done a little research on the source itself – you would have easily discovered that the AAP specifically recommended not to mask children under middle school age because they could not wear them properly, only to walk back their opinion a few weeks later under pressure from the Teachers Unions claiming they feared for their lives. Personally, I would have chosen another source to support my leanings given the inconsistencies in their recommendations. I would have also taken a look at their funding and found it generated largely through government, special interests, and even Pfizer. Further, the AAP has taken stances of late on highly politicized issues such as hormone-blocking in children and worse. They’re highly driven by grant money which often requires statements and opinions that fall in line with politics. I’d appreciate a little actual research in which you leave your personal feelings aside before casting a vote on anything to do with my child. I can assure you, Mr. Smith, if I held a vote that affected your children I would give you that respect, and I would honor their health and well-being by making certain I was as informed as possible. I would also listen carefully to YOU.
Another point worth mentioning- The topic of vaccine vs mask seemed to leak into the discussion last night. I’m not sure if it was intentional or a mishap, but it is noteworthy. A couple of you made sure to point out that without full vaccination adoption in the community, or in schools we are left with masking as the only recourse. That’s telling as to where some of you stand on the entire topic. It’s also interesting that the AAP document you sourced last night highlighted the same points. Again it seemed obvious you pulled a source close to your heart. I might advise you to go all in and truly stand for what you believe. Enforce a vaccine mandate in schools; do it immediately. I’d be content to sit on the sidelines and watch that one. of course you won’t push for a full vaccine mandate; it would backfire and you know it. It’s possible you can’t, and would like to extend the mask mandate as long as possible in the hopes vaccines, for staff and children, are the next step forward. I’m only connecting the dots since you brought it up.
While we’re on the topic of research, I’m going to assume that you’ve never heard of, or given a second thought to the Nuremberg Code. Evidenced by your stances and lack of consideration for the full spectrum of what is taking place with masks. Combined with you openly admitting in last night’s meeting that there wasn’t enough data. Citing opinions only. And stating that more time and more masking was needed because of the uncertainty. You are clearly needing more evidence to support your opinions. Our children are not medical test subjects. You do not have the supporting science to prove that masks serve a purpose or offer any benefit. Make no mistake, a mask is a medical device; it is classed as such by the FDA when used for a medical purpose.
So, you admit to not having enough sound evidence that masks work, use the words ‘we think’ throughout your meeting, dismiss the opinions of parents, use unreliable sources, your ‘expert’ cites false information, you refuse to answer a board member’s simple question on bench-marking, and you claim more time and masking may or may not provide some reliable results from which we can form more accurate data. This is called having no proof, no organized controlled sample, and you’re now using our children as the only sample set, and schools as the only controlled environment for health TESTING. You’re forcing a medical device to be used in the testing. And you have nothing more than a hypothesis. You’re claiming you’re backed by science but in fact, you’re seeking better results. And you’re doing this without informed consent. To me, and many others, this is a clear violation of the law.
Seems risky to be playing this game. I’ll grant you the benefit of not fully understanding the weight of what you’re doing. And I’ll grant you that forces far more powerful have led you that way. But, for only a minute. At this point, I’ll gladly accept a reversal of last night’s vote and we all learn from this. But I must ask you to be aware that if you refuse, I intend to file suit, and it will be a class action on behalf of the entire community. It will require you to provide support and documentation for your mask mandate and when you received it. It will require that you answer why you’ve disregarded opposing views and information. And since you have the sole right and responsibility of your own vote granted to you by law, it will not allow you to use the governor as a backstop. And it will ask for damages. In our country, the majority rules, and States reign supreme, from there smaller local governments govern and represent the people. You know this already, yet you’re blatantly and with corrupt arrogance usurping the will of parents.
I could pull my child from school, home school, put her in private school, or hire one of your teachers to teach our kids. But that would be too easy and do nothing to solve the issue here, and I would be leaving hundreds of other parents on the battlefield with a little less in their arsenal to fight with. Trust me, I would far prefer a peaceful resolution. To be fair, I would be remiss if I didn’t share that my daughter’s first-grade education blows me away every evening. In the first grade, I could read Spot jumped over a fence and do simple math. My daughter can read books, she loves being challenged in spelling and math. Her teacher is wonderful. I give credit to the faculty and staff in the Lenoir School System; they are diligent, passionate, and dedicated. They deserve far more than our system affords them.
I don’t know any of you, maybe one day I will. And maybe one day we all find common ground. I wish you and your families the best of everything. But for now, we disagree, and we will fight this out.
Cheers
Michael Thomas
Kinston, NC
