Public Comments Jan. 20, 2022 Meeting

The following emails were all sent previous to the January 20, 2022 Board of Education meeting and are posted exactly how they were sent:

We wanted to thank you all for keeping the schools open. We bet you get lots of pressure to close. We have seen so much fear in everyone recently and it can’t affect our kids anymore in a negative way. We’ve been seeing people in KN95 and N95 masks everywhere. They are actually very unhealthy for children and elderly to breath in. On the box it says can cause breathing issues and death if worn incorrectly. We are not EVER putting our kids into one of these. Some of us have Drs, paramedics and reparatory therapists in our families and covid is NOT making kids very Ill. Some of us had covid and a few of are kids had covid croup. With early treatments everyone was okay. We can’t live in fear and make our kids fearful in living their lives. They only get one childhood. Many of us have kids in counseling and so many kids are receiving services, it is hurting them more emotionally then physically and it’s got to end. Our kids are asking everyday why do they still have to wear a mask and when will they not have to. So many people already got Covid and can’t get it or spread it for months even years after. Why are we still masking everyone that’s not contagious. Illinois might pass some schools to go mask optional, the ruling is today and we need to have that choice too. Thank you.

Kisondra Prieto and Colette Angarone

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My 5 year old daughter and I moved to the district in August. She’s a very bright, social, and happy first grader.

I checked the rules, and bought masks which complied. TRIPLE layered mesh. She wore hers every day without incident, until October 5th I picked her up from school and she was in a disposable mask. I asked what happened. She looked down at the ground sadly, and said I’ll tell you in the car, mom.

When we got home, I showed my daughter the school was wrong and pulled up the rules. She read them along with me. I taught her to read at 1 year old and she could read the encyclopedia by 3. This is why she is in 1st now and not kindergarten. She understood every word she read. Her mask was not in violation. She did nothing wrong.

I emailed the school that she broke no rules and would return in her mask tomorrow. District nurse Andrea Zito replied that although the mask did NOT violate district rules, it did violate IDPH and CDC rules. With IDPH - masks must be double layered - she clearly had not even inspected ours. With the CDC - the fabric must block light. My daughter and I checked the rules ourselves, and we saw there was one other important rule Andrea left out - a metal nose wire. This keeps the mask on tightly enough that germs don’t spread out. I replied “let me know when you update the rules, because she is not in violation of current district rules and won’t be changing her mask,” and I asked for confirmation EVERY mask in school complied with her IPDH and CDC guidance.

I picked my daughter up that day and she remained in her mesh mask. I heard nothing for several weeks as she continued wearing it.

On October 25th, I suddenly got an email stating my daughter’s mask would be changed if she showed up in triple layered mesh again. The district rules were changed online. I showed my daughter, and I again requested confirmation all masks were in compliance - at least double layered and with metal nose wire.

I continue to see masks EVERY SINGLE day in violation of these rules and keep reporting them to her principal, school nurse, Eric and Andrea asking why these kids are allowed to wear masks in violation but mine is not. School board member Gareth Kennedy spoke with Eric, and Eric told him only VISIBLE violations are a concern. However, I report visible violations often and nothiing happens. Furthermore, does the virus only get through visible violations? When did the CDC announce that? Each morning my daughter arrives in her mesh mask, she’s sent to the nurse and misses class to change it. No other child is sent to change their mask without a nose wire or double layers. She and I both understand what is going on. A 5 year old can see through this nonsense. Can you?

Eric Olson lied to me saying other students in mesh were forced to change too. I asked how many and on what dates? He changed his story and said actually it was just two staff and didn’t have dates. I have personally seen other mesh masks. Nothing is done. This was not Eric’s first lie to me either, and he refuses to have a conversation with me on the record. What a shock.

Worse, my daughter told me her class missed their mask break one day. I asked why. She said because the boys in class misbehaved. Misbehaved? A mask break and letting our kids breathe is not a reward or a punishment!

Week after week, no one will explain why some rules are followed and others are not, and why the science is hand picked. But we all know why. It’s because the science this district follows is actually just POLITICAL science. If the school sends home every child in a single layered cloth mask without a metal nose wire, which is what is ACTUALLY necessary to stop the spread, then you will be hearing from many more parents than just myself. While that may make your lives easier, it is discriminatory, it is unfair, and it is abusive to our children. It teaches our kids that tyrants rule in a democracy, and democracy is a farce.

Ariel Gurian
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Many European countries are recognizing we are now in an endemic and need to shift ways we have been dealing with our lives the past 2 YEARS. They are lifting restrictions, mask requirements etc

Many of the US states have had fewer mandates/restrictions than IL and their covid numbers not worse than ours

Everyone now is recognizing that masks are not doing much to prevent the spread of covid;

And another key point is that keeping kids in school for in person learning is a public health benefit and something we need to continue

So many of our students and staff have already had covid and/or vaccines. It is time to start shifting our focus.

I understand there are some parents who are still scared; and I don’t want to minimize their concerns But the rest of the community and most importantly our children should not pay the price for their fear For those who are worried about heath - please allow them eLearning for as long as they need to feel comfortable to re-integrate into the society.

N95/k95 masks should NOT even be considered for children!!!

Thanks you,

Miller family

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For Public Comment at the School Board Meeting 1/20/22 (I’m sorry I can’t attend):

Dear School Board Members -

I understand and agree with the idea that schools should be open and that kids do better in an in-person learning setting. We've heard for months now that the priority should be to keep schools open. I agree. Unfortunately, I don't think enough has been done to keep school open AND keep kids safe at the same time.

With regard to students returning to school after five days of isolation following a positive test, the CDC website clearly says: 1) wear a well fitting mask a full ten days anytime you are around others inside your house or in public. Do not go to places where you are unable to wear a mask. 2) Avoid being around people who are at high risk.

While I'm appreciative for the mask mandate in Illinois, I think we can all agree that many students are not doing a good job wearing their masks properly and that many are not well fitting. In addition, there has been no solve that I'm aware of for students returning from a positive test and eating in the lunchroom with no mask. This directly goes against CDC recommendations for prevention of covid transmission. Finally, there are kids unfortunately that are high risk and that is not being considered. My child has asthma and takes a biologic medication that could put her in the high risk category, but that seems to be irrelevant in the consideration of whether a remote option could be offered short term.

It is discouraging to me as a parent to continue to hear 'we need to prioritize keeping kids in school' when we haven't improved ventilation (windows could be open more frequently even for a short time), regular testing is voluntary, many mitigation standards used last year are no longer in place, and many remain unvaccinated (at a level below other Chicago suburbs). I would ask for the board to consider a remote option for 2-3 weeks while case peak and hopefully come down. If the board can't make this decision, please let us know who can and what the procedure is as I've heard differing information on this.

Thank you very much.

Julie Brown

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Thank you for taking the time to acknowledge and read my concerns and comments. I understand what a difficult position everyone is in regarding covid and adaptive pause and mitigations. If an adaptive pause is not possible right now even amongst high numbers and emails everyday that there are covid cases at the schools, then I implore you to take appropriate safety measures.

While I am fortunate enough to be able to afford kids kn95 for my child, it is a privilege and many other families cannot afford that. As a district that receives state and federal funding for covid mitigations, I ask that you use those funds to purchase kn95s for staff and students to use in the fight against covid, especially the highly transmissible omicron variant.

I ask that a new plan be transparent to the parents about how and who is monitoring students who are back from 5 days of quarantine. They are supposed to be masked during recess. Who has the list of students that need to be masked when outdoors and making sure they stay masked? They should NOT be unmasked around others indoors. Are measures being taken to have them unmask and eat in a different room than the other children?

In the school that I work at, once there is a notification of a positive case, the room of students and teacher are moved to a different location temporarily for someone to sanitize the room. Is something similar being done? I ask that each teacher open the window even if it is a little to allow for circulation inside the classroom for safety.

A clear and strict message needs to be given to all principals about enforcing children properly wearing masks. I witnessed with my own eyes several students walking through the main office right past the principal and assistant principal with their mask below their nose and some with it hanging off their chin! And neither of these people said anything to the children they were walking past. In addition I have witnessed multiple parents walking in the school, again past the principal where they shrugged their shoulders and used part of their jacket as a mask.

I hope to hear an answer for these concerns in the board meeting otherwise I look forward to reading a response about the mitigations that the board and district will be following. Thank you for you time.

Robina Button

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Dear School Board Members -

I know and understand how important in person learning to the students. Unfortunately, I don't think there is enough safety measure has been done to keep kids , staffs and community safe.

As we all know the the cases spiked , hospitals across the state of Illinois are facing challenging times, trying to maintain normal operations while seeing a dramatic increase in the number of COVID patients, covid deaths and cases are rising again at nursing homes. Daily emails regarding positive cases at schools.

I know Dr. Olson are trying hard to keep everyone safe but I think we can all agree that many students are not wearing their masks properly. Beside that, I saw with my own eyes and I believe many did too, school principal, YES I mean school principal do not dare to say a word to visitors to ask them pull up their mask properly even she saw them face to face multiple times. Or I should say NOT JUST visitors but students too!! Several students walking through main office right past the principal and assistant principal with their mask beneath their nose and neither of them said a word . I seriously think this should change immediately. All the principal should enforce proper mask wearing in the building not just to students but all the visitors too.

Next, I would like to know if the classes have positive cases, do school sanitize the classrooms immediately to prevent the spread?

In addition, the new rules stated students who test positive for COVID-19 can return to school 5 days after their onset of symptoms. They should Continue to wear a well-fitted mask around others (including at home) for 5 additional days after release from isolation. This includes while outdoors. If unable to wear a mask when around others, the student must continue to isolate for a total of 10 days. If masks need to be removed (e.g., for lunch), ensure 6 feet of physical distancing until 10 days after symptom onset or positive test. If students cannot be distanced 6 feet at lunch, it remains a 10 day isolation period.

My questions is how would the volunteers/lunch supervisors know who's supposed to and who's not to wear a masks outdoor during recess ? And how would they know who need to be 6ft of social distancing while taking lunch?

Beside that, acording to the email from

Olson only two ways to go remote/adaptive pause

1) cook county health department says we should or

2) the school has too many teachers out sick and not enough subs

BUT the district never disclose how many teachers or staffs were out!

Last, I would ask the board to consider the options of remote learning/adaptive pause to slow down the spread.

Thank you very much

-Kim

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To whom it may concern,

My name is Demetri Touzios and I have a child in first grade at Washington. I just want to say that new data emerging has shown that masks don’t work and k95 masks work only in sterile environments. With that said I think we should start thinking about eliminating the mask altogether. It is jeopardizing our kids ability to learn and is causing more harm than good. I know some parents want stronger mandates but we can not put our children’s future and well being on the back burner just because a minority of parents are scared of everything.

Thanks,

Demetri Touzios

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I am sending this email to stress my strongly opposed view on the 3 very important topics.

Masks

The masks worn by our children now currently disturb and affect their breathing and socializing. My youngest cries sometimes because she can’t interpret if another child is being mean or not because they can’t tell whether or not they are smiling or upset or even understand what they’re saying. I hear my children and friends tell me that everybody in gym class or recess has physical difficulty breathing, too the point of being reprimanded when they remove them for a moment to catch their breath. Forcing them to wear these thicker masks will make it EVEN MORE difficult. I’ve heard of kids complaining one to another of feeling like they are going to pass out, but afraid of telling staff for fear of getting in trouble. THIS IS INSANE AND MUST STOP. DO NOT FORCE THEM TO WEAR EVEN THICKER MASKS at such a young age.

Remote learning

MAP test scores have dropped. Kids are NOTICEABLY doing worse. And the teachers’ fear of these low scores reflecting on them is now resulting in KNOWN INCIDENCES where teachers are GIVING ANSWERS to tests and grading with leniency so as not to reflect poorly on them or the school/district. THIS IS AN ABSURD DISSERVICE to our children and their future!!

QUARANTINE TIME

There is no reason to further extend quarantine time for students!! The CDC has provided guidelines, and our children HAVE TO BE in masks anyway!! The quality of their learning at home and the disconnect when they get back to school is, again, directly affecting their learning and futures. My children who used to earn consistent As and Bs, are now falling behind, and in getting tests back, I’m seeing that they are being given every opportunity to improve their original low score, even though they are not retaining the knowledge in most cases!

I cannot tolerate the irresponsibility of the adults on the board if they continue to pursue this ABUSE of out children at the D64 schools. It’s plain wrong.

Thank you.

Kind regards,

Eva Stachowicz

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I strongly disagree to implement N95 masks, Remote learning and extended quarantine to our schools!!!!!

Thank you.

Luxury Windiws and Doors

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My children attend Roosevelt. This mask mandate needs to stop. Rumor going around about N95s and 14 Quarantine for these children seems ridiculous. They are already scarred from this mask experience and it needs to end.

Frank Novelli

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I vehemently oppose my child being in an N95 mask for school. Also, the extended quarantine is absolute BS. CDC has updated their guidelines but now you don’t like them?

This is absolute crap and if any version of this is passed my children will not go to public school, I will make sure every board member especially Eric Olson is voted out and we have school choice in IL. My tax dollars will not go to this.

Brian Wsol

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To the board the message is simple you are hurting everyone and the science is clear.

Respect your role and do what is right and remove all mandates.

Sal Galati

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As a new resident in Park Ridge with a daughter who will be going to school in the neighborhood in a few years I completely disagree with the change in rules . Our students should not be forced to wear n95’s and they cannot afford to have more remote learning. In addition, a 14 day quarantine is ridiculous especially when the newest rules call for 5 day.

-Jeff Larsen

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D64 team,

We do not consent that our children/ students wear N95s and we also do not agree that quarantine be expanded to 14 days and no more to remote learning!

We do not agree. We do not want any of these policies implemented in our schools.

Please listen to the parents who have every right to direct our kids lives. School boards and the elected district leaders are appointed by us. We know what is best for our kids.

1. We do not want school closure or remote learning. President Biden said just yesterday in his press conference that schools should remain open. In our district, MAP test scores have already declined.

2. We do NOT want our children wearing N95 masks or any masks at all. It is common scientific knowledge that kids are at little to no risk. Between both vaccination and natural immunity from prior infection, the vast majority of our students already have immunity should they get sick and are extremely unlikely to face hospitalization or death.

Masks interfere with early learning literacy skills. Children, especially young children, need to see each other's faces and the faces of their teachers to learn how to communicate socially and emotionally.

Additionally, it is well-known that experts have come out recently stating that those masks are potentially dangerous. If we are concerned with the safety of our students and staff, KN95s are not the answer.

There is a serious health warning on the box!

3. We do not want an extended quarantine. The district continues to tell us we are following the guidance of the CDC. The CDC and ISBE have changed quarantine to 5 days. What is going on over there?

Can you please help us?

I am a mother who is concerned for our community and my child.

Heather

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Please stop these mandates at our schools! We are hurting our children with these masks and keeping them out of school. This is going too far.

Sincerely,

Tony Flando

Father

Citizen of Park Ridge

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To District 64 Board members,

I am a parent of a student in District 64, and was made aware that there is a push for schools to go back to remote learning and/or for students to wear n95 masks along with an expanded quarantine of up to 14 days.

I DO NOT agree with any of these policies nor their implementation in our schools.

1. I do not want school closure or remote learning. Health professionals have been stating for months that schools should be open. It is necessary for student's social and emotional well being as well as their learning. President Biden said just yesterday in his press conference that schools should remain open. In our district, MAP test scores have already declined and the district continually states that covid mitigation protocols, including remote learning is the number one reason for this. Closing schools would only make this worse.

2. I do not want our children wearing N95 masks or any masks at all. It is common scientific knowledge that kids are at little to no risk to this disease. Between both vaccination and natural immunity from prior infection, the vast majority of our students already have immunity should they get sick and are extremely unlikely to face hospitalization or death.

KN95's have an explicit warning: "This respirator helps protect against certain particles. Misuse can result in sickness or death." As well as it is "not recommended for kids...as the mask creates respiratory resistance." Our children are not trained medical professionals who know how to properly use and wear KN95s, and neither are their teachers or any of you. Nor are their faces big enough for the mask. They are not only unnecessary, but they are potentially dangerous. If we are concerned with the safety of our students and staff, KN95s are not the answer.

3. I do not want an extended quarantine. The district continues to tell us we are following the guidance of the CDC. The CDC and ISBE have changed quarantine to 5 days. Why would we stop following the CDC and ISBE on this particular point? Why now? We refuse to punish our children any longer. Why would we move backward instead of forward at this stage in the pandemic? I say no.

I urge the board to consider my words as my child's health and safety is my top priority.

Best regards,

Margaret Kujawa

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Hello,

It has been brought to my attention that there is a possibility of policy changes regarding our children wearing N95 masks and quarantining will be expanded to 14 days and possibly going back to remote. This is completely unacceptable and I as a parent do not agree with these policy changes. I do not want any of these policies implemented at our D64 schools.

Thank you.

Concerned Parent,

Nick Miller

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Dear Board members and Dr. Olson,

I am writing you today to voice my opposition to the possibility of N-95 masks being required at our D64 schools. This would place our children in a state of real potential harm as these are not recommended for children's use as they create respiratory resistance.

Developing brains and bodies need oxygen, and the risk associated with improper usage or, worse, a snug fitting N95 with a proper seal could cause physical damage to our children.

I am also asking you to keep our children in school full time this year and to NOT expand quarantine time.

Our children have lost valuable learning time, are lagging in their academic progress, and extending quarantine would put them at a further disadvantage.

I implore you to use common sense, actual up-to-date metrics, and reasonable measures to keep our kids in school, healthy and safe, and learning alongside their peers.

Thank you for considering,

Amanda Madsen. Park Ridge resident

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To the D64 Board,

Now that the vaccine is broadly available to all of D64's students and the Omicron variant is past its peak, it is time for the district to 1) reassess some of the current mitigation strategies and 2) prepare for the likelihood that our governor will be loosening some of the regulations, giving D64 a say in what restrictions we place on our children

Regarding the current mitigations I have MANY concerns:

- I have heard disturbing stories of Junior High students being punished with detention for not wearing their mask properly. I am not sure the state guidelines have any recommendations for punishing students; this seems like an overreach of power.

- My 7-year old child is eating her lunch on the floor of the classroom, which I also find sickening. I appreciate the effort to separate children to minimize quarantines, but there has to be a better way to handle this. My kid is likely picking up more germs from eating on a dirty floor (particularly with the snow outside, which is likely making the school floors wet and muddy) than they would be exposed to simply eating lunch 3 feet apart from their neighbor. It sounds like a situation where the solution is worse for the kids than the original problem was.

- I am also disturbed that D64 is adopting the recommendation to have different quarantine rules for those vaccinated versus unvaccinated. Segregating children based on vaccination status is wrong and sets a scary precedent for how D64 might handle future mitigation decisions. It also is NOT founded in science as many vaccinated children are still getting and spreading COVID particularly with the Omicron variant. While I understand how easy it is to simply adopt the CDC standards, true leadership involves looking at those standards with a critical eye and using common sense to determine which are truly beneficial to the D64 community and which are merely political ploys to bully people into getting vaccinated. This recommendation clearly is a bullying technique to force vaccinations and it is not preventing the spread of Covid in our schools whatsoever.

- I also take issue with quarantining bus exposures. Wearing a mask on a bus is a federal mandate, and D64 should not be making unfounded assumptions that kids are taking masks off on the bus and subsequently forcing them to quarantine. The assumption should be that they are exempt from quarantine based on the mandatory mask usage.

Regarding D64 being prepared for future changes to the mandates, I hope that D64 has the leadership to begin removing mitigation strategies as soon as the mandates are lifted by Pritzker. I personally would like to see masks go away first while maintaining the other strategies in place for a few weeks. However, I think it makes the most sense to gather input from parents through a survey to see what strategies they would be most comfortable with. The past 2 years have taken complete control out of the parents hands when it comes to having any say in our children's health and wellbeing in a school environment. Taking parent feedback into consideration through a survey rather than just listening to the squeaky wheels who voice their opinions the loudest, might help parents feel a stronger sense of partnership with the superintendent and board, which I think is severely lacking right now.

Thank you,

Margie Nanninga

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Dr. Olson and School Board members-

I have just been informed that there has been a proposal to the D64 Board requesting ALL students wear N95s and quarantine is expanded to 14 days or school goes back remote. I am not sure if this is a rumor or true, but I need to voice my concern as a parent of two in D64 that I am NOT ok with this potential proposal. I must be honest here, this is extremely disappointing to hear that you would even consider imposing such requirements on our children. They have suffered enough these past two years (social, emotionally, academically, etc.) When these mask mandates end, we need to end this for our children. The complaints I hear from parents in this community as well as my own children are heartbreaking. The kids are miserable going to school, uncomfortable with the masks, the constant badgering about how the mask is fitting on their faces, that they are not socially distant enough, or if they have been vaccinated yet.....

Will this proposal be on the agenda for tonight’s board meeting?

Thanks!

Rosa Black

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To whom it may concern,

It has come to my attention that people are asking the school to keep the quarantine time to 14 days and/or to go to remote learning. I think that this is a horrible proposal and it will harm the kids! Please do not consider this...the cdc has reduced the quarantine time and schools should follow these guidelines.

Thank you.

Anthony Monteleone

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To whom it may concern,

We have 2 children at Washington elementary and We would like to address the following issues:

We do not agree with going to remote learning.

We do not think the district or school should require N95 or any specific kind of mask.

We do not think quarantine should be extended past cdc guidelines which are currently 5 days.

Thank you for your time,

Dana Matza.

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Good afternoon,

I am writing to share my fierce opposition to the proposal of students wearing N95 masks, extending quarantine and reverting to remote learning. This is child abuse and our children deserve better. Children have the right to breathe air freely, be amongst their peers and have an in person education.

The astronomical taxes my family and I pay go to support this school system and I demand that you all do the right thing for our children. They have been discarded and abused for two years, enough is enough. If teachers are uncomfortable teaching in person and are making these demands, perhaps it is time for them to make a serious decision about the future of their career and resign. If they can no longer fulfill their responsibilities without infringing on the bodily autonomy and liberty of the children they teach, they have no place guiding the next generation.

Children are our most valuable resource. They are unable to advocate for themselves. We voted you all in to do that for us. It is time to do the right thing and put our children, their mental health and their education first. I urge you to say no to those selfishly pushing for more sacrifice from our children.

Thank you,

Jenna Sellman

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Good afternoon,

Thank you,

Jenna Sellman

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I do not want my children wearing masks in school - N95 or cloth. These measures only provide a minimal amount of protection for children while the negative effects are enormous.

The students of Park Ridge schools have suffered enough under these tyrannical restrictions that the State and Federal Government has imposed on us. Please reconsider removing these restrictions from our classrooms.

Steve Barta

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Hello D64 Board,

I am writing in response to emails previously sent to you regarding the request for our children to wear N95 masks, extending quarantine periods, and the potential need to return to remote learning.

I ask of you to please disregard these measures as they have not proven to prevent or stop Covid infections. While we all want our children to be safe and protected, I feel as these requested protocols are excessively exhausting and troublesome. Over 50% of students in each school are vaccinated, and with weekly testing in place, why is there a need for a heavier more cumbersome mask. Masks are already a major psychological stressor for children and has been proven to be a handicap and obstacle in learning. The requested masks would only add another hindrance in our children's desire to go to school. Additionally, does the school board intend to issue the requested N95 mask to students, or reimburse financial costs for all of the masks I have already purchased?

With the extended quarantine period this will cause a strain on finances for many families in need of child care. Many families in our community are already struggling financially due to a lack of available jobs or work as well as any governmental restrictions already imposed. The extended quarantine request are also debilitating to building relationships with peers as it causes seclusion and isolation. Which leads me to why remote learning would be detrimental to so many children, and is not a beneficial or a proper solution in our fight for education and growing our kids. Why burden our children for the benefit of adults to feel safe? Because ultimately it is the children who have to deal with the consequences of the decisions you make.

We will never find a proper solution for our children if we always follow unproven measures, instead lets work together on a measures to give our children the absolute best school years experience while not traumatizing them anymore than necessary.

Thank you for your consideration and time. If you have any additional questions please reach out.

Respectfully,

Ashley Moran

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Dear D64 Board Members,

Please end all covid- related mandates in our schools. Please end mask mandates, forced quarantines, and segregation and differential treatment of unvaccinated children and staff. This should all be personal choice. Please stop hiding behind "you are just following the rules" that come from IDPH, ISBE etc. These rules are literally discriminating against a group of people based on their beliefs... are there not rules against that? Please stop dehumanizing our children now!

Thank you,

Beata DeFranco

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Please stop! I am begging you. Let out children have normal lives again. No masks anymore especially not N95’s! Our children need to be IN SCHOOL LEARNING! I already had to take one of my kids out of Washington and move them to St Paul of the cross to repeat a grade because they fell so far behind last year! NO MORE MASKS, IN PERSON SCHOOL, 5 day QUARTINE PER THE CDC! Enough is enough! I am pleading on my knees that you stop complying with this absolute MADNESS!

Signed a mother of five!

Amanda Coloia

1129 Prairie ave

Park ridge IL 60068

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Children need to be in school. Even considering expanding quarantine rules at this point is insane. The only discussion should be shortening these rules.

Frank Wsol

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To District 64 Board Members:

I am a concerned parent with students attending District 64 schools.

I am against school closures and remote learning.

I am against wearing any type of mask in school. I am against wearing N95 masks in school.

I am against extended quarantine times. There is no basis for extending the quarantine beyond what both the CDC and ISBE have recommended.

Our kids have been detrimentally harmed by Covid for long enough - it can be seen in the Map scores and in the widespread mental health issues in children that the Surgeon General has warned us about. It is crucial that we continue to move forward and return our children's lives back to normal.

Thank you,

Karen Rado

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N95 masks are not healthy for adults and especially children. They severely restrict oxygen to those that wear them. That's fine for the for the elderly, fragile or paranoid fearful adults.Not appropriate for growing children. The children should not have to wear masks and children can stay home while actively with flu symptoms. Stop listening to brain washed paranoid adults and get back to regular education. Teachers just want to teach from home and don"t generally care enough to come into work and will try and continue these insane practices.

Thank You

Ann Sacha, Park Ridge parent

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Hello,

I am writing to share my opposition to requiring students to wear N95 masks, expanding quarantines to 14 days and remote learning.

Remote learning was devastating to my children. My daughter drew a very angry picture of herself with headphones on during the remote learning phase. To say she hated it is to put it mildly. She had a terrible time interacting with students and her anxiety level went up exponentially when she had to be on camera. My son had a similar experience.

Regarding expanding quarantine to 14 days, I would ask why this would even be considered using what facts or data to support this. CDC recommendation is now 5.

Regarding students wearing N95 masks, there are numerous reports and studies that show the negative educational and developmental impacts masks have had on our children.The long-term harm to kids from masking is potentially enormous. Masking is a psychological stressor for children and disrupts learning. Covering the lower half of the face of both teacher and pupil reduces the ability to communicate. In particular, children lose the experience of mimicking expressions, an essential tool of nonverbal communication. Positive emotions such as laughing and smiling become less recognizable, and negative emotions get amplified. Bonding between teachers and students is impacted. Overall, it is likely that masking exacerbates the chances that a child will experience anxiety and depression, which are already at pandemic levels themselves.

You would have to explain to me why would adults put their safety ahead of the well-being of school kids. Vaccinations are highly effective at keeping adults out of the hospital and even better at preventing death. A healthy, fully vaccinated teacher is close to impervious to threats posed by COVID-19 spread in the classroom. By now, every teacher in America has been offered the vaccine; many were in the first priority group, even above vulnerable older people. The benefits of masks in preventing illness from COVID-19 among children are infinitesimally small. At the same time, masking children is measurably disruptive to learning and communicating in classrooms.

Ethically, the onus is on you to show that the benefits of masking kids outweigh the impact and potentially irreversible harm they will do to our children. I hope you keep this in mind now and moving forward.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Francine D'Amico

Park Ridge Parent of D64 students

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To District 64 Board members:

My wife and I are parents of students in District 64 and we heard very troubling news today that the district is considering forcing our children to wear N95 masks, extending quarantine time and/or to send children back to remote learning.

We do not agree with this in the slightest and do not want our children subjected to this unnecessary punishment. We do not want our children wearing masks at all and feel that considering the opposite policy direction that should be occurring is wrong, immoral and cruel to our children.

It is common that children are at minimal risk to this disease in any of its variants. We urge the board to not implement any of these policies and, in fact, not even consider them at all.

Thank you!

Brian and Julie Kopf

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To District 64 Board members:

We do not agree. We do not want any of these policies implemented in our schools.

1. We do not want school closure or remote learning. Health professionals have been stating for months that schools should be open. It is necessary for student's social and emotional well being as well as their learning. President Biden said just yesterday in his press conference that schools should remain open. In our district, MAP test scores have already declined and the district continually states that covid mitigation protocols, including remote learning is the number one reason for this. Closing schools would only make this worse.

2. We do not want our children wearing N95 masks or any masks at all. It is common scientific knowledge that kids are at little to no risk to this disease. Between both vaccination and natural immunity from prior infection, the vast majority of our students already have immunity should they get sick and are extremely unlikely to face hospitalization or death. They are at higher risk on the drive to and from school.

Additionally, it is well-known that experts have come out recently stating that cloth masking is not effective with the omicron variant, a much milder disease than previous variants. Even if omicron was more dangerous, the cloth masks do not work. And while at first glance it may seem like KN95's will be helpful to students, the packaging clearly states otherwise. See attached. KN95's have an explicit warning: "This respirator helps protect against certain particles. Misuse can result in sickness or death." Our children are not trained medical professionals who know how to properly use and wear KN95s, and neither are their teachers or any of you. They are not only unnecessary, but they are potentially dangerous. If we are concerned with the safety of our students and staff, KN95s are not the answer.

3. We do not want an extended quarantine. The district continues to tell us we are following the guidance of the CDC. The CDC and ISBE have changed quarantine to 5 days. Why would we stop following the CDC and ISBE on this particular point? Why now? We refuse to punish our children any longer. Why would we move backward instead of forward at this stage in the pandemic? We say no.

We urge the board to consider the number of parents signed below. We got this group together in just a couple hours time. Please know with more time, we will have hundreds on our side. Each day that passes as new information comes out, more and more parents are done with these baseless and irrational punishments against our children. You will continue to hear from us should you not put our children's true well-being first.

Best regards,

Unsigned

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To Whom is may concern,

I have heard the board is receiving requests to put all children in N95 masks and expand quarantines to 14 days. This is excessive and unnecessary. Most of our children who have tested positive for Covid-19 have mild symptoms at worst. The CDC and WHO are recommending 5 day quarantines for those who test positive and are no longer symptomatic.

The cost of buying enough masks for a single child to have a clean, new n95 mask everyday for the rest of the year will be more than $100 per child. Additionally, we need to take into account the availability of N95 masks and KN95. Per OSHA, N95 masks are classified as a respirator, which require fit testing both for how the mask sits on the face and how well the child can breathe while wearing it, especially because they will be required to wear it for 6 hours per day and while exercising (gym class).

Through your contact tracing, you are not finding that Covid 19 is not spreading through the school. Also, we should take into consideration that the holidays were just over two weeks ago. Seeral global Covid 19 tracking sites have shown in the past a two to four week spike in cases after the holidays and then the number of cases went back down.

We have an obligation to make the learning environment accessible to our children. These new measures are incredibly distracting for our students and teachers.

Please consider this when making your decision at the board meeting tonight.

Thank you,

Becky Sweeney

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I am writing you to voice my opinion and concern over a requirement of N95 masks, quarantining and remote learning . This is going too far. Our school children need to be in class and any mask requirement needs to be reviewed. Going to a requirement of N 95 masks is completely unnecessary and a of no health care value to the children in our schools.

RICK ALLEGRETTI

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Good afternoon,

I would like to voice my concern on my children wearing an N95. I'm a nurse and i dont wear an N95 at work, only when certain circumstances arise. A hospital setting is far more dangerous then a school. This is getting out of hand. The N95s are NOT meant to wear all day. We need to get back to normal and not have our children wear masks! Other states do not mandate mask wearing and the cases in other states are also lower. Mask mandates need to end. Our children learn by emotion and facial expression. This is a big problem for them developmentally and socially. Please do not require N95s. Thank you for your understanding.

Sincerely,

Danielle Gallagly

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To whom it may concern...

It has come to my attention that there are discussions happening regarding having our children wear n-95 masks to school...this is RIDICULOUS!

Our children are suffocating in school as it is with the regular masks they wear now. My 8 year old daughter does not want to go to gym class everyday because she cries that they have to run and do laps indoors with masks on. This will be so hazardous to their health and mental well being. If anyone is actually concerned for the safety of our children DO NOT PASS THIS INTO EFFECT. It will destroy them on many levels.

Parent of child at Roosevelt School

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It has been brought to my attention that there is a push for our children to wear N95 masks and that our children should quarantine for 14 days if exposed or have Covid. We are completely against this.

We have made progress with keeping our kids in school and it should only get better from here on out. Why go backwards? Don’t you think that these children have been through enough? They are Covid tested, constantly being reprimanded to wear their masks correctly, being pulled out of class because they have been exposed, segregated for not being vaccinated.

The main FOCUS should be on their education!

The district has followed CDC guidelines from day 1…. Why change now?

We as parents know what’s best for our children.

I will not have my kids wear an N95 mask, I actually prefer them to wear no mask at all. I will not let other parents decide what’s right or wrong for my child. I will choose what’s best for my children.

Thank you,

Nicole Ancona

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My family and I are residents, and against any sort of mask mandate
Ant Capone

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Hello.

I’m unable to make todays meeting but wanted to voice my concerns as a Park Ridge Resident.

I don’t agree with masking kids in N95 masks and updated quarantine measures.
James Costantini

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Good afternoon All,

To make this short and sweet. Enough is enough!!! This is torture to our children!! The long term breathing effect that ALL masks will cause will be a devastating to our kids. All these Covid aka the flu restrictions are waaaay over the top. Let the kids be kids. Let the parents go back to work to make money to live in this town and not be educational teachers. Home schooling is a joke. They need to be in a classroom.

Thank you,

Eric Page

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To whom it may concern,

Please stop the madness and abuse of our children.

We do not agree. We do not want any of these policies implemented in our schools.

Best regards,

Jaziel Dorado

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Dear Dr. Olson: (and District 64 Board)

It is my understanding you and the District 64 School Board have been asked to consider adopting new rules requiring all students wear N95 masks as well as the adoption of new quarantine standards for infected individuals (expanded to fourteen (14) days and/or require the District implement remote learning). I oppose these changes.

Yesterday Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady announced Chicago has passed its peak in the latest COVID-19 surge.

Chicago has passed COVID omicron peak: city health chief | Crain's Chicago Business

The Chicago Public Schools also announced their quarantine and isolation period for students and staff members is being reduced from 10 to five days to mirror new guidance from the state of Illinois and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Chicago Public Schools to shorten quarantine time for students and staff as city passes omicron peak (msn.com)

A bit further away but no less relevant, we also learned yesterday England’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced similar Covid-19 changes and the elimination of their mandatory face mask rule which will be lifted shortly.

England Lifts Face Mask Mandate, Lets People Return to Offices as Omicron Cases Near Peak (msn.com)

We also know that facial and vocal emotion is fundamental to children's social competence and learning and that development is more than likely impaired when one is wearing a mask.

The development of emotion recognition from facial expressions and non-linguistic vocalizations during childhood - PubMed (nih.gov)

I respectfully request you and the District 64 Board Members weigh all the important facts and avoid implementing changes that are not warranted. When others nearby and far away are lessening mask and quarantine controls common sense suggests we too need to consider those actions, not the opposite. More restrictions has the potential to negatively impact our children and further diminish their learning opportunities and environment.

Based in part on the above noted sample reference materials I am strongly opposed to adding or expanding the current mask/quarantine restrictions. From what those around us are doing we should be considering the exact opposite, less mask requirements (voluntary use) and less away from school time after one has been infected.

I express my sincere thanks for your consideration, I trust you and the Board will do what is best for the children based on factual data.

Best regards,

Frank Wsol

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D64 School Board:

Thank you for enabling the transition to in-person learning over the recent months. My family and I are observing a significant improvement in our two Roosevelt students' attitude, eagerness for school, social development, and academic retention.

As the district considers how to balance student and faculty safety with the education of it's students, I hope it decides to continue to offer and prioritize in-person learning. Thank you for your consideration.

Respectfully,

Patrick Collins

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All

As a mother of two children in District 64 at Field School I strongly object to requiring students to wear N95 masks and revising quarantine to 14 days.

My fourth-grade daughter, Lucy Beidler and second-grade son, Brendan Beidler are both students at Field Elementary and are thoroughly enjoying being back on campus with their friends and teachers learning real time, not virtually.

Please do not take kids out of the classroom. It has a detrimental impact to the children, socially, emotionally and academically.

None of us know the long term impacts of Covid on the children's learning. It has hopefully made them more resilient, which we are amazed by. Let's not jeopardize their overall well-being by taking steps backwards.

Respectfully,

Maura Collins

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District 64 Board members:

We do not agree. We do not want any of these policies implemented in our schools.

Best regards,

Dennis and Laura Wodka

NIkolas Wodka

Carpenter School

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Dear D64 Board Members,

Thank you for your time & service to our community and most importantly our beloved children.

I’m writing with regard to a number of topics that will be on the agenda for tonight’s 1/20 meeting.

My husband & I have a daughter currently at Emerson MS. We wanted to make known our support for the recent changes made to the COVID quarantine process. SO many families and children have been affected by having to quarantine out of the class room & resort back to online learning; many have had to do this multiple times. It causes great disruption when this happens.

We are grateful that the district and board has reviewed the policy and made changes according to CDC & other public health offices & officials recommendations. We are definitely in support of the shortened quarantine down to 5 days. It is imperative to keep our kids in school as much as possible. It is crucial to the social, emotional & academic developments and experiences for our precious children.

I would implore the board & district to also take a closer look into natural immunity & antibodies students and staff possess after recently having COVD-19. We believe this should be taken in to account as well to even further shorten, or more preferably avoid, a quarantine for exposure altogether.

Furthermore we do not support any sort of mask-type mandate, ie: N95 or any other. This is not something that should be pushed on or down to families and students to bear burden.

Thank you again for your time and service!

Tony and Dana Garcia

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To District 64 Board members:

We do not agree. We do not want any of these policies implemented in our schools.

Best regards,

Beata De Franco

Ariel Gurian

Sylwia Konopka

Ursula Walendzewicz

Peter and Christina Popovic

Paul and Katie La Susa

Matthew and Colette Angarone

Jim Harmon

Laura and Matthew Bilben

Amy Giannese

Margie Nanninga

Eva Stachowicz

Demetri and Joanna Touzios

Maria and Niko Prutsos

Bob and Karen Rado

Ashley and Chad Moran

John and Rachel Shacke

Kisondra and Robert Prieto

Cheryl and John Carr

Dawn and Jim Fiorito

Shannon and George Hickey

Sal Galati

Paul Trudeau

Alla Bagryanskaya

Maria Babakova

Lorena Fisher

Lukas Madejski

Artur Konopka

Lucas and Daniella Fuksa

Elizabeth Fitzmaurice

Brian and Denise Wsol

Virgil and Yvonne Lloyd

Laureen Zureikat

Amanda and Steve Coloia

Angnes Gancarz

JP and Elizabeth LaCorcia

Scott and Gina Gatziolis

Malgorzata Kujawa

Lisa LaMacchia

Gareth Johnson

Tom Walendzewicz

Jillian Kennedy

Audrey and Lance Curtis

Danny Stachowicz

Francine D’ Amico

Steve Barta

Debbie Zeman

Toula Arvantitis

Terri and George Gineris

Hillary Larson

Ursula Aponowicz

Marcin Kubisztal

Jenna and Eric Wischhover

Krystof and Barbara Kupiec

Tim Curry

Dan and Michele Svachula

Andrew and Bonnie Rajchel

Irene and James Aiello

Amanda Madsen

Sharon Luzzi

Tim and Rosa Black

Eliza and Tony Riley

Anthony Monteleone

Ewelina Gorczyca

Pawel Mieczkowski

Greg Gorczyca

Richard Michal

Nicole and Enza Ancona

Meghan and Brian Reaney

Brad and Deana Tokarz

Ivana Miller

Brian and Julie Kopf

Ann Sacah

Kim and Brad Keyworth

Jestina and Nick Look

Tara and Mark DiMeo

Shea and Trent Mausser

Kim and Sal DiFranco

Pete and Amanda Hill

Dana and Tony Garcia

Sarah Stetler

Annie and Matt Huston

Alessandra and Albert Kierdelwicz

Evelyn and Stephen Ronan

Nicole Miller

Rick and Corky Allegretti

Tony Flando

Caitlin Flando

Jenny Araque

Rick Simnick

Anyta and Vlatko Papa

Paul and Kristina Gajewicz

Brian and Angela Staunton

John Constantini

Joey Ignoffo

Dawn Brunner

Dennis Wodka

Laura Wodka

Nikolas Wodka

Lizabeth OMalley

Glenn Mullally
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District 64 Board:

We are parents of students in District 64, and we're aware there is a push for school to go back to remote learning and/or for students to wear n95's along with an expanded quarantine of up to 14 days. We are not in agreement with this baseless recommendation made by a small cohort of parents in the district. We do not support school closure or remote learning. Health officials, including the CDC have been stating for months that schools should remain open for the academic and social/emotional benefit to our children. Further mask wearing in schools is not the answer nor is extended quarantining.

For those small number of parents who are concerned, then they should consider home schooling their children or find alternate arrangements to their children's learning, not to the determent of the majority of students in D64.

Respectfully submitted,

Kristina & Paul Gajewicz

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Dear School Board Members,

The UK’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson ended mask mandates & All COVID Passports for the whole country of Britain, ironically while Biden was on TV yesterday announcing he is sending400 million masks / spending tax dollars to essentially mask every American… for 1-day.

Starbucks too is ending mask mandates & the need for a COVID Vaccine for all employees!

The curve for Omicron is descending (it’s on mainstream news) because so many people have contracted the virus and recovered. This is the natural course of action for any virus. Our administration as hard as it tried did not affect this natural progression or regression of COVID. Those policies did not work or this year we would not have more cases than last year with out all the mandates, so it’s time to change course.

Kids are not dying of the virus nor are teachers, but rather they are being fed fear and are lacking the social interactions including facial expressions every day for a reason not of science or common sense. Bottom line, the harm masks and quarantine present are more harmful than the virus, so do something about it, lead the way in an educated professional way.

If not, please present statistics to counter this factual information and course of action.

How many students since Jan 2020 are/have been hospitalized or have died due to COVID-19: _________________.

How many teachers since Jan 2020 are/have been hospitalized or have died due to COVID-19: _________________.

Show a list of doctors or scientist that are (for AND against) masking: ________________.

*Demonstrate the type of mask that is affective in preventing the transmission of any virus and then present how many people in the school have that type of mask, ware it correctly and change the mask out every day for the “safe mask”. Not all masks are equal.

I hope you give this some careful thought.

Regards,

Scot Castellaneta

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Dear School Board Members -

I know and understand how important in person learning to the students. Unfortunately, I don't think there is enough safety measure has been done to keep kids , staffs and community safe.

Next, I would like to know if the classes have positive cases, do school sanitize the classrooms immediately to prevent the spread?

Beside that, acording to the email from

Olson only two ways to go remote/adaptive pause

1) cook county health department says we should or

2) the school has too many teachers out sick and not enough subs

BUT the district never disclose how many teachers or staffs were out!

Last, I would ask the board to consider the options of remote learning/adaptive pause to slow down the spread.

Thank you very much

Kim

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