MASK MANDATES, PART 1: WHO DECIDES?

Suffice it to say, this issue continues to be highly controversial, especially in regards to student health.

The most important data point from the CDC is that since the pandemic has started through July 2021, there have been NO deaths in the Alaska age group under 17 years.  Thus, it would seem as if it is more important to protect the ASD staff as students have an extremely low chance of contracting the virus. And if a student gets the virus, the mortality rate is zero if no preexisting conditions. 

Doctor Marty Makary and his research team at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine analyzed childhood Covid cases and found a mortality rate of ZERO among kids with no preexisting condition. He noted that the CDC states that 335 kids under age 18 have died with a Covid diagnosis in their record. BUT the CDC did not indicate if that virus was incidental or causal. So, his team studied 48,000 kids under age 18 who were diagnosed with Covid.  They found a mortality rate of ZERO among those without a preexisting condition.

Regarding transmission of Covid by students to adults, Dr Danny Benjamin, a pediatric infectious disease and epidemiologist at Duke University, studied 11 North Carolina school districts, including 90,000 students/staff. Their conclusion: no evidence of student-to-adult transmission of Covid. Bottom line—there is virtually no child-to-adult transmission during in-person schooling.  So, to mask students has no effect on the transmission to adult staff.

What should our response be? As an organization and as individuals? We support the right of parents to make health decisions for their children. Masks should be optional. 

In addition, PRIE recognizes the right of local school boards to make policy decisions which reflect the community. Although Superintendents may encourage members to comply with requests from the Department of Education, School Board Members legally have control of school policies. They are often reminded at Association meetings they have the power to create and change policy. 

There have been some very disturbing responses by state and local officials regarding health related mandates including mandatory masking and vaccines.