LETTER: Too Hot For Masks in Framingham Schools

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FRAMINGHAM – Only conspiracy theorists could believe that healthy children pose a dangerous threat to adults. Sadly, those in charge of public education in Framingham, and Massachusetts in general, appear to be operating under such a mass delusion. Are our educational leaders themselves immune to education? After pool-testing thousands of children, week after week after week, they apparently haven’t learned anything. In Framingham, 28,742 pool test results have shown conclusively that asymptomatic children are actually, provably, healthy children. It doesn’t matter.

We’ve learned “that children are not only less likely to develop severe disease courses but also are less susceptible, and less likely to transmit SARS-CoV-2.” That does not matter. We’ve learned that “[m]ask mandates were also not associated with student or teacher infection rates when controlled for spread within the community.” That does not matter. Many parents have reported their children have experienced headaches, dizziness, and fatigue after wearing masks for long periods. That does not matter. And we’ve known since the beginning that “[t]he typical mask you buy in the drug store is not really effective in keeping out virus, which is small enough to pass through material.” That does not matter. Bodily autonomy was once an important concern, but you definitely don’t hear anyone in MA’s educational leadership claiming “my body, my choice” anymore. The bullies are in charge, and bullies don’t care about science or dignity, only power.

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Children are nearly powerless compared to adults. They rely on adults to protect and defend them. Instead, adults in leadership positions are scapegoating healthy children, forcing them to cover their faces, for some unexplainable safety benefit. We are told over and over again that “Masks/Face Coverings are among the most important single measures to contain the spread of COVID-19.” Our educational leaders make no attempt at scholarship and present no support for their incessantly repeated claims. These leaders have moved in unison to force children to wear masks. They’ve invented uncountable restrictions that have even included rigid nonsensical rules requiring children to face a predetermined direction while eating lunch. From our leaders in education there has been no dissent.

In Framingham, our superintendent has boasted that they spent “nearly 100 hours of bargaining” between the teachers union and the district leadership. Who was representing the children during these negotiations? It’s clear when you read the resulting policy document that children were definitely impacted by their lack of collective bargaining power.

The emergency is over. Not a single community in MA is considered high-risk. Framingham has finally gotten around to correcting their active case counts, recently revising the active case count downward by nearly 1000 cases in just a week. Please remember that the inflated case counts were used as justification for closing the schools and parks.

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Our leaders have failed to protect children. There has been absolute silence regarding the many negative impacts of forced masking. They have offered no advocacy for children’s needs, such as the need for young learners to see faces to learn to speak, to communicate, and to form friendships. Consequently, many families with resources have pulled their children from FPS in favor of a private school, homeschooling, or even by moving to another State or district. For those that remain in FPS, we should expect to see the impact of this exodus for years to come, but don’t expect any leader to admit that people left because of their failed policies.

This week the forecast calls for hot weather and sweaty children wearing soggy masks in classrooms for hours.

To bullies everywhere, I have a simple message. A public school isn’t public if you have to cover your face to be there.

Sincerely,

Daniel Napierski

Framingham