• Outdoor masking has never been required by state or local government, rather it has been a chosen mandate by Live Oak Charter administrative staff and the CRT (covid response team). Both indoor and outdoor masking mandates have been lifted in California and in Sonoma County. A of March 11, 2022, the CDPH (Ca. dept. of public health) announced they are lifting indoor and outdoor masking requirements and Sonoma County public health announced they are aligning with this guidance. Petaluma City Schools is also following this guidance. So WHY are LO children still in masks? LO is CHOOSING this for our children and we don’t agree with it.

• As the State, County and City of Petaluma mask mandate has been lifted, it is ignorant to think that keeping children in masks during school is going to slow any spread. Families are living their lives outside of school, mask-less. Parents are working and socializing and children are engaging in afterschool activities, socialization, and play, all without masks.

• We care about our children's mental, emotional, and social well-being as well as their physical health. Necessary social skills and nonverbal language recognition has been lost in the last two years of mask wearing. Our children are at a deficit in this area now. They need to catch up. Stop this learning deficit.

• Children are people who should have the right to make decisions, along with the guidance of their parents, about their bodies. This is a valuable lesson and tool that they need to learn to navigate into their adulthood.

• The logic of continued masking, only at school lacks any scientific backing, and is being “justified” under the guise of being “extra cautious”

• It has been shown that a properly fitted N95 mask is the only affective mask in preventing the spread of COVID-19. Anything less than an N95 or surgical mask has been proven to allow 90% of particles to pass through it. Not all children are wearing an N95, nor should they be required to do so. Masking in schools is simply a virtue signal.

• Due to hypervigilance in the home, COVID and mask talk, many children have become un-needlingly hyper fixated and paranoid about being in public spaces without a mask. We are creating another generation of anxious and paranoid children. This is a detriment to individuals and society as a whole.

• Continuing to force masks upon our children, when the state has lifted the mandate, is cruel as well as mentally and emotionally damaging to our children.

The following is an incomplete, running list of the current schools and districts that have lifted their mask mandates for indoor and outdoor masking:

• Petaluma city schools
• Credo High School
• Harvest Christian - Petaluma
• Cinnabar School - Petaluma
• Mcnear School - Petaluma
• Cherry Valley - Petaluma
• Wilson School - Petaluma
• Casa Grande - Petaluma
• Rincon Valley Charter
• Piner High School
• Old Adobe School
• Victory Christian
• West County High
• Sonoma Valley High
• Westside Elementary
• Sonoma Valley Schools
• Sebastopol Union School
• Waugh USD
• Mark West USD
• Windsor USD
• Healdsburg USD
• Cloverdale USD
• Greenstein USD
• Cotati USD
• Penngrove USD
• Rohnert Park USD
• Rincon Valley USD
• Oak Grove USD