AG Daniel Cameron Letter To JCPS

August 16, 2022
Via email
Jefferson County Public Schools

VanHoose Education Center
3332 Newburg Road
Louisville, KY 40218
RE: Mask Mandate for Jefferson County Public School Children
Dear members of the Jefferson County Board of Education:
On July 22, 2022, the Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) announced a mask
mandate for “everyone who enters a Jefferson County Public Schools . . . building or
bus.” 1 To our knowledge, it is the only such mandate in the Commonwealth. The
Jefferson County Board of Education approved this mandate despite overwhelming
opposition from parents and 52% of JCPS teachers. 2
While my Office continues to review whether JCPS has the authority to impose
such health policies, I write to urge the Board to terminate its mask mandate
immediately. The mandate harms children, unduly burdens teachers, and is bad
public policy.
1 COVID-19 Update, JEFFERSON.KYSCHOOLS.US (Jul. 22, 2022), available at

https://www.jefferson.kyschools.us/covid-19-update. The mandate does not appear to include a
religious exemption and may not be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act, and other state and federal law provisions.
2 Isaiah Kim-Martinez, “We Have Significant Community Pushback”: JCPS Board Member
Wants School District’s Masking Policy Modified (Aug. 12, 2022), available at
https://www.whas11.com/article/news/education/jcps-mask-protocol-coronavirus-covid19-jcta-survey-
louisville-kentucky/417-6fce78c2-1af0-41ca-a1c4-1d27542c0207.
Jefferson County Board of Education
August 16, 2022
Page 2
Reports indicate that masking makes it harder for children to hear and understand
speech, inhibits children’s social interactions, and interferes with childhood brain
development. 3 These are not just anecdotal stories—they are backed by science.
In December 2021, Brown University released a study that found COVID-related
rules, including masking, led to a 23% drop in children’s general cognitive
development. 4 Researchers observed around a 30% drop in verbal development and
more than a 20% drop in non-verbal development. 5 The study concluded that
“children born during the pandemic have significantly reduced verbal, motor, and
overall cognitive performance compared to children born pre-pandemic” and that
“masks worn in public settings and in school or daycare settings may impact a
range of early developing skills.” 6 These findings are exactly why mandates like
yours are “outlier[s].” 7
Second, JCPS’s mask mandate unduly burdens teachers. The men and women who
teach our children face a formidable task in helping prepare them for the modern
world. The mandate makes this task even harder because our teachers will
inevitably bear the burden of enforcing the mandate. 8 Furthermore, the timing of
this imposition could not be worse, given that 72% of teachers “are at risk of leaving
their jobs soon” and given that social distancing, masking, and raging inflation are
not providing them a reason to stay. 9
3 Anya Kamenetz, After 2 Years, Growing Calls to Take Masks Off Children in School, NPR.ORG
(Jan. 28, 2022), available at https://www.npr.org/2022/01/28/1075842341/growing-calls-to-take-masks-
off-children-in-school.
4 Alex Hammer, COVID Rules are Blamed for 23% Dive in Young Children’s Development:
Disturbing Study Shows Scores in Three Key Cognitive Tests Slumped Between 2018 and 2021, with
Face Mask Rules Among Possible Culprits, DAILYMAIL.COM (Nov. 26, 2021), available at
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10247315/Face-masks-harm-childrens-development-Study-
blames-significantly-reduced-development.html.
5 Id.
6 Id.
7 Anya Kamenetz, After 2 Years, Growing Calls to Take Masks Off Children in School, NPR.ORG
(Jan. 28, 2022), available at https://www.npr.org/2022/01/28/1075842341/growing-calls-to-take-masks-
off-children-in-school (noting that the World Health Organization and the European equivalent of the
CDC do not recommend universal masking); see also Olivia Krauth, 7 of 500 Largest U.S. School
Systems Are Requiring Masks. JCPS Is One of Them, LOUISVILLE COURIER JOURNAL (Aug. 5, 2022),
available at https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/education/2022/08/05/jcps-mask-policy-2022-
mandate-one-of-seven/65393614007/ (noting that “[f]ewer than 2% of the nation’s largest school
districts are requiring masks”).
8 Id. (reporting that children often do not wear masks appropriately and that enforcement often
falls on teachers).
9 Kelly Dean, Ky. Educators Express Alarming Concern for Teacher Shortage, WBKO.COM (Jul.
7, 2022), available at https://www.wbko.com/2022/07/07/ky-educators-express-alarming-concern-
teacher-shortage/.
Jefferson County Board of Education
August 16, 2022
Page 3
Third, mask mandates are bad policy because the efficacy of masking children is
unproven, especially when weighed against the harms described above. Schools and
governments turned to masks in 2020 and 2021 when we knew very little about
COVID-19 and its transmission.
But now more than 150 studies and comparative articles question the effectiveness
of masking. 10 These studies are supported by real-world experiences in school
districts. In 2020, 40 of Florida’s 67 school districts mandated masks and reported
positive COVID-19 tests for 48 of every 1,000 students. 11 Districts without mask
mandates had positive tests for 50 out of every 1,000 students. 12 This is hardly the
kind of outcome that would justify your mandate.
For these reasons, I ask that you terminate JCPS’s mask mandate immediately.
The wellbeing of our children depends on it.
Sincerely,
DANIEL CAMERON
Attorney General of Kentucky
10 Paul Ellis Alexander, More than 150 Comparative Studies and Articles on Mask Ineffectiveness
and Harms, BROWNSTONE INSTITUTE (Dec. 20, 2021), available at https://brownstone.org/articles/more-
than-150-comparative-studies-and-articles-on-mask-ineffectiveness-and-harms/amp/; see also
Margery Smelkinson et al., The Case Against Masks at School, THE ATLANTIC (Jan. 26, 2022),
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/01/kids-masks-schools-weak-science/621133/ (giving
examples of a number of studies that found no correlation between decreased student COVID cases
and mask mandates).
11 Mike Vasilinda, Florida School Mask Mandate Power Struggle Goes Before Judge,
NEWS4JAX.COM (Aug. 23, 2021), available at
https://www.news4jax.com/news/florida/2021/08/23/judge-hears-parents-challenge-to-desantis-ban-
on-mask-mandates/.
12 Id.

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August 16, 2022

Jefferson County Public Schools

RE: Mask Mandate for Jefferson County Public School Children

Dear members of the Jefferson County Board of Education:

1 COVID-19 Update, JEFFERSON.KYSCHOOLS.US (Jul. 22, 2022), available at

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