Minnesota activist and parent groups that allegedly represent over 30,000 Minnesota parents have signed on to a letter opposing mandatory masking of children. The letter, which has also been used in Wisconsin to protest mandatory masking, was addressed to Governor Tim Walz and President Joe Biden. The letter was written and released under the group Open Schools USA.
For Immediate Release MN pic.twitter.com/Uls8iNZ6gH
— Sarah Ronchak (@SarahRonchak) August 14, 2021
The letter reads, “These are not your children. They are ours and they too, are Americans with rights… We applaud and support the school boards, businesses, and localities that have respected our parental choice.” The signees also said that they will not mask their children in school, allow the governor to enforce masks on children at stores or community activities, or let their children be subjected to lockdowns or movement restrictions.
The last sentence of the letter says, “We have never and will never co-parent with the government.”
Sarah Ronchak, the vice president of Open Schools USA and the chapter president of No Left Turn in Education Minnesota told The Minnesota Sun that the signers of the letter were from over 36 different activist and parent groups as well as a few businesses. The signing groups represented over 30,000 families.
Ronchak said, “I’ve been dealing with schooling issues since the beginning of the pandemic. My oldest daughter was a senior in 2020. It was a big blow. We live in Elk River and I started working to fix the problem. I ended up going national with a group called Open Schools USA.”
Ronchak shared that Wisconsin already did this open letter and one of the results was the group making it to Fox & Friends to share their story. She said these groups are connected all over the country. The Minnesota letter came about after Ronchak called over to the Wisconsin group and got the letter and modified it for use in Minnesota.
She said, “The goal is no masks in schools and for children to have their rights back. They shouldn’t have to endure more lockdowns and masking and distancing.”
Some of the groups that signed the letter include Mask Off MN Kids, The Constitution Party of MN, MN Conservatives, Lakers for Liberty, Conservative Moms of MN, and United Patriots for Accountability.
Ronchak said if other groups and parents want to take it and send it to individual schools and districts they can.
She said, “We are just releasing it to the press to show in a larger way that not everyone is in agreement with masking and distancing.”
Also, Ronchak said, “We are challenging every state to do this. I don’t know if it’ll make a difference or not, but it’s worth a try.”
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Hayley Tschetter is a reporter with The Minnesota Sun | Star News Network. Follow Hayley on Twitter or like her Facebook page. Send news tips to [email protected].
