Today we sent a letter to the Baker administration, urging @MassGovernor to provide a clear answer: what is the end-game, the off-ramp, the objective for in-school mitigation measures on students who are in their third disrupted year of public education? 🧵 1/

Stop and read this letter from Enrique Abud Evereteze, a high school senior at Boston Latin where they are considering reinstating a mask mandate after the holiday break. @MayorWu @HealthyBoston @OjikutuBisola @svilleskipper his words matter, don’t ignore the kids.

A must read letter by a high school senior at Boston Latin Academy in opposition to the potential return of school mask mandates. Are you listening to the kids impacted by your policies @healthyboston, @OjikutuBisola, @BostonSchools, @svilleskipper, @wutrain ??

Why we fought for open schools in MA. This wasn’t hard to predict, and it surely wasn’t necessary for multiple years on end. Sadly, children will pay the price for these poor policy decisions for decades to come. https://t.co/2KsRLG9Y1O

To date, students are still dealing with a patchwork of haphazard local decisions, often under the guise of “mitigation”. We know the 2022-2023 school year will bring continued and new challenges. We will keep marching forward, for our children’s education and development. (/end)

As the 2021-2022 school year winds down, we want to thank everyone who supported us, advocated for our children and kept fighting with us. To date, there are districts still in masks, and we still lack a uniform voice at the state level that’s focused on the KIDS…+ (1/)

“So much self-harm and suicide ideation.’ Now reflect on reality that millions of kids didn’t have in-person access to counselors for a year, and also that counselors didn’t see the struggles of millions of kids who stopped logging in to remote school. https://t.co/mwuXoRcdNz

As students suffer educationally, emotionally, & developmentally from the responses over the past two years (closed schools, ineffective hybrid models, restrictions, cancelled activities etc), sadly the @massteacher’s union continues their blinded singular focus on Covid.

So, @massteacher expects that we will track “school-by-school and town by town” Covid cases…..forever?

@AmerAcadPeds Did you #PutKids1st when you pulled back your support of school reopenings and supported @AFTunion @NEAToday efforts to reopen remotely in fall, 2020? When you stayed silent as US school closures dragged on?

Teaser (and my favorite line): “Children are excluded from school because they have runny noses, when it is precisely children’s exposure to other kids with runny noses that creates a robust immune system when they reach adulthood.”

I've intentionally stayed quiet on Covid policies of late. It's not fun arguing against the zeigeist. But a quick reminder of how problematic our local media has been. A quick thread (ugh)

So at the end of another school year, w/ vaccines, natural infection & far more knowledge re: this virus, kids STILL bear the brunt. We've always pushed back on restrictions that have trade-offs for children and that aren't evidence-based. When will our leaders join us? /end

Nonetheless, local BOHs, superintendents @massupt & school committees @MASCSchoolComm are stuck in "we have to do something" mode. So with one month left of school, children are asked to mask again, just as experts say the cases are peaking (8/x).

It's now very clear that blanket mask mandates on children are limited in effectiveness ⬇️ *and* masking is not a cost-free intervention for children learning to read, developing speech, or simply needing to connect fully with other humans (7/x)

The cycle continues: children are ping-ponged back and forth, while their education, development, and mental health continue to suffer. Uncertainty and lack of control surrounds them - all the while, learning environments seem to be the only site where this continues (6/x).

And yet, when parents lament the return of masks, @MassGovernor @MassDPH @MassEducation say this is a "local control" decision now. So who is looking out for the kids and their development? and for the familiar and normal learning environments they so deserve and need? (5/x)

When @Massgovernor and @JeffreyCRiley announced the state mandate was lifting, they urged that children needed a "familiar, welcoming, and nurturing classroom environment" again and that "removing masks will make it easier for students to learn" (4/x)

This is a huge turning point: even with the narrative of "strongly recommending", we are collectively endorsing that children can be asked to cover their faces on and off again in educational spaces....forever? (3/x)

A number of @MASchoolsK12 school districts now "strongly recommend" masking; others have mandated masking again. Some @MassEarlyEdCare daycares are encouraging 'anyone ages 2+' to mask indoors again. With what evidence for doing so? Usually some nod to an "uptick" in cases (2/x)