Dear Governor Cuomo:

Dead kids can't learn. Dead teachers can't teach.

No child should have to enter a crowded school building during the Covid-19 pandemic. No parent, guardian, or family member of a student in New York State should have to choose between the child's education and their own health as well as the child's health.

This is what's happening in Miller Place School District. Superintendent of Miller Place Schools, Dr. Marianne Cartisano, sent an email to all district parents on Friday July 31 stating that all parents who do not want their children to attend school in person must de-enroll their children and home-school them this year. This is not an adequate solution for most families. The vast majority of parents must work. Even if they work from home, they do not have the training or time to teach their own kids. I've been a teacher for 22 years, and I couldn't even do it. I teach English, but I can't teach my high school senior AP Chemistry. This proposed option is not an option, and it is biased against the lower income families who cannot afford to stay home and teach their kids instead of working.

No child should need a doctor's note stating they are high-risk to receive remote instruction. Every human being on earth is vulnerable to Covid-19. The truth is that we don't know enough about this virus to exclude anyone from being at-risk or high-risk.

Please mandate the option for remote instruction at all New York State schools until the very real threat of being exposed to Covid-19 in our schools has passed.

Your constituents, the parents and guardians of children in New York State,

Amber Buscemi, 337  Tyler Ave, Miller Place, NY 11764

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