We request that Arlington Public Schools offer equity and safety to all interested students by providing the option to eat lunch and snack outdoors.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, and the return to in-person schooling, several facts have become accepted science:

1. Indoor dining is considered a high-risk activity.

2. Covid offers no lasting immunity and new variants can reinfect just weeks after previous illness.

3. Approximately 20% of infected people, including children, develop Long Covid which includes brain damage, vascular damage, autoimmunity and systemic immune dysfunction. The risk of Long Covid increases with each reinfection.

Throughout the 2021-2022 school year, some APS schools provided outdoor eating for both snack and lunch (weather-permitting) while others did not. This year, we ask that all schools offer this safer option consistently. By not providing students the option to eat outdoors, we remove their ability to protect themselves and others. Many children are considered high-risk or live with a high-risk family member. An outdoor option to safely remove a mask to eat allows all children a healthier option in their school experience.

We, the below signed, request that Arlington offer equity and increased health safety to all students and their families by offering the option to eat outdoors