PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — In a letter sent Monday, the Alsea School District’s superintendent demanded Oregon make masking optional in schools and allow parents to make that determination.

On January 23, the Oregon Department of Education notified the district it would lose funding after the school board voted to do away with mask requirements. In the letter, ODE Director Colt Gill said the school would need to submit proof it reinstated all necessary COVID precautions to receive funding again.

Alsea schools had until January 31 to respond, or ODE would not process any funding or reimbursement requests from the schools, according to Gill.

Superintendent Marc Thielman responded saying there’s a “profound erosion” of trust and confidence in the COVID recommendations made by the CDC and the Oregon Health Authority — and that’s why he’s allowing parents to choose if their students wear a mask.

“If we do not get any real efficacy from masking but clearly produce harm, such as a loss of collective student intelligence, delay in nonverbal communication recognition, etc. then the use of masks should be made optional,” said Thielman.

In the letter, he says earlier guidance from OHA suggests “the only option to maintain mask efficacy moving forward, as a more effective mitigation, would be to put all students and staff in N95 or KN95 masks.”

In 2020, the school district reportedly received 5,000 N95 and KN95 masks and encouraged all students and staff to utilize them as they “filter out viral particles better than the paper masks,” Thielman said, in part. However, he said research findings from September 2020 indicated K-12 students did not prefer the N95/KN95 masks and complained that they were “hot,” and that teachers and peers had trouble hearing students clearly when they spoke through the masks.

Thielman wrote that the paper masks he’s seen “had a clear warning on the box that said, ‘NOT EFFECTIVE AGAINST VIRUSES.’” 

He also pointed to a CDC update from Jan. 14 saying loosely woven cloth products provide the least protection against the virus and that N95 and KN95 masks offer the most protection.

Despite protective masks being available, Thielman noted Alsea schools saw increased mask-wearing when students wore child-sized paper and cloth masks.

In his letter, Thielman argues that because students and staff had difficulties with the N95 and KN95 masks, wearing these would have a “profoundly negative impact on in-person instruction and learning.”

A spokesperson with ODE said they would not be responding to Thielman’s letter until it was reviewed by the appropriate agencies.