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To the editor:

Let’s talk about the Suffolk School Board. Minus Ms. Sherri Story, board members fail to even respond to parents’ concerns.

EO #2 does not ban masks, it simply gives parents the choice. Regardless of how you feel on this issue, one thing we can all agree on is there is a lack of transparency and involvement with parents. Did the board meet on the issue? Did they vote? We don’t know, because nothing was communicated to parents except for a decision which excludes us. Code of VA, Title 22.1, Ch. 13.2, 22.1-253.13:7 Standards of Quality 7, School Board Policies, states “C. Each local school board shall ensure that policies are developed giving consideration to the views of teachers, parents, and other concerned citizens.” Surely Dr. Gordon did not decide on such a controversial issue independently.

The school board is using CDC recommendations (key word: recommendations) and SB1303 as a crutch to inflict their authority over parental rights. SB1303 does not mandate masks in schools, because the CDC does not mandate masks in schools. The law is so vague that it could literally be construed to support either side of the issue, so this argument is weak. Code of VA, Title 1, Ch. 2.1, Article 2, 1.240.1 Rights of Parents, states “A parent has a fundamental right to make decisions concerning the upbringing, education, and care of the parent’s child.”

Healthy children under the age of 18 are less than 1% at risk of becoming severely ill with COVID. Physiological damage to children from chronic face mask: hypoxia, accumulation of harmful bacteria, decline in cognitive performance, anxiety, and rebreathing contaminated air with high bacterial concentrations along with low O2 and high CO2 levels continuously challenge the body’s homeostasis, causing self-toxicity and immunosuppression. (Kisielinski 2021)

Our kids have been subjected to two years of mask mandates and remote learning, none of which have stopped the spread of COVID. COVID is here to stay. Decisions are being made based on political affiliation, pressures from school board and teacher associations, and feelings, rather than on actual science. Those who are at risk should take whatever precautions they need to in order to feel safe, just as those who are healthy should do whatever they feel makes them safe. If masks work so well, why does it matter if everyone else is wearing one or not? The logic here is “my coat only keeps me warm if everyone else wears theirs.”

We are not co-parenting with the school board. As a parent and a registered nurse, I feel I am more qualified to decide what’s best for my kids regarding their health. You parent your kids and let me parent mine.

Leslie Jacobs

Suffolk