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PHM Board Letter CR 2021-08-16

A group of healthcare professionals from the region's only children's hospital wrote a letter to the president of the Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation expressing disappointment in the board's decision to make masks optional in schools, going against CDC recommendations. The letter urges the board to follow the CDC's guidance to universally require masks in schools, citing increased COVID cases from the Delta variant. It advises that not following science puts children and the community's health at risk unnecessarily.

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4K views1 page

PHM Board Letter CR 2021-08-16

A group of healthcare professionals from the region's only children's hospital wrote a letter to the president of the Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation expressing disappointment in the board's decision to make masks optional in schools, going against CDC recommendations. The letter urges the board to follow the CDC's guidance to universally require masks in schools, citing increased COVID cases from the Delta variant. It advises that not following science puts children and the community's health at risk unnecessarily.

Uploaded by

jasonmoverholt
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Board of Trustees                             August 16, 2021 
Penn‐Harris‐Madison School Corporation 
Attn:  Chris Riley, President 
Educational Services Center 
55900 Bittersweet Road 
Mishawaka, Indiana 46545 
 
Mr. Riley, 
 
As the leading provider of children’s healthcare services and the only Children’s Hospital in the region, we stand united 
in our profound disappointment with the decision of the PHM Board of Trustees to disregard the recommendation of 
the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), issued on August 5th, for COVID‐19 Prevention in K‐12 Schools.   
 
Specifically, the CDC recommends “universal indoor masking for all teachers, staff, students, and visitors to K‐12 
schools, regardless of vaccination status.  Children should return to full‐time in‐person learning in the fall with layered 
protection strategies in place.” 
 
The decision to implement a “mask‐optional” policy ignores the science and severity of the Delta variant of the COVID‐
19 virus.  Other communities throughout Indiana, the Midwest region and the United States are experiencing an 
aggressive surge of COVID‐19 as a result of the Delta variant, the slow adoption of available vaccinations and the 
relaxation of proven strategies to decrease the transmission of the virus, such as wearing a mask and appropriate social 
distancing.   
 
The children who are entrusted to the care of the PHM school district deserve to return to the classroom safely.  The 
most effective strategy to prevent the spread of COVID‐19 has proven to be the wearing of a mask.  To ignore the 
science and oncoming surge is to put children, their families and our community, in harms way unnecessarily. 
 
We strongly advise you and the PHM Board of Trustees to follow the CDC recommendation for COVID‐19 Prevention in 
K‐12 Schools.  We also urge you and your staff to carefully consider the peer‐reviewed medical facts and literature 
regarding vaccination against COVID‐19.  Vaccinations have proven safe and effective at significantly reducing the 
morbidity and mortality associated with this virus and its variants. 
 
Respectfully, 
 
 

Larry A. Tracy, Jr., FACHE    Dale Patterson, MD    Majorie Daoud, MD 


President  Vice President Medical Affairs  Infectious Disease Specialist 
Memorial Hospital   Memorial Hospital  Memorial Hospital  
Beacon Children’s Hospital   
 
 
Amanda Dutkiewicz, MD    Asad Ansari, MBBS, MPH     
Medical Director  Pediatric Infectious Disease Specialist 
Beacon Children’s Hospital  Beacon Children’s Hospital 

615 N Michigan St. | South Bend, IN 46601 | 574.647.1000 | BeaconHealthSystem.org

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