This letter is in response to the District’s announcement of the Covid protocols for the 2021-2022 school year. Many of the undersigned are parents of former BVA students and some are not. For those of us who chose to keep their children virtual all of last year, we did so for many reasons. Some of us were scared of how the virus would affect our families. Some of us wanted consistency. Some of us thought that the district implemented policies that were unsafe for our children. Although our teachers did a phenomenal job, many of our students suffered emotionally or academically due to not being in school. For others having a school-aged child at home, created barriers to employment.  

We are ready for our kids to return to school. Many of us were ready to send them mid-year until the District decided not to adopt the social distancing recommendations issued by the state. You know based on the number of students currently enrolled in the BVA that most parents want their children to return to the classroom. However, there is a big but. We want it to be a safe return. The plan you propose does not align with the recommendations of the CDC, the MDHHS, or the American Association of Pediatrics. All of these agencies recommend that the District, at the very least, require all unvaccinated individuals to wear masks. We are confused why you did not adopt these recommendations and are dismayed that once again, we face a choice between the education and the safety of our child.

We are confused by your decision-making document included in the district email. First, the CDC is only issuing masking recommendations for schools, because that is all they can do. The CDC has limited authority to issue orders. For example, the CDC requires children to wear masks on the bus because public transportation is an area the CDC has the authority to issue a requirement. Therefore, the lack of requirements issued by the CDC for masks in the classroom for unvaccinated individuals IS NOT because the CDC does not deem this necessary. Rather, the CDC does not have the authority to issue such a mandate. They can only recommend best practices. Second, the Michigan Legislature has taken several steps in the last year that curtailed the authority of the Governor and the MDHHS to issue orders. This is political maneuvering. Yet, it has real consequences for all of us. One of those consequences is that you, as a school district, have had to make difficult decisions about Covid mitigation. It is unfortunate that so many of these public health policy issues fell to the schools to manage. We sincerely wish it had been easier and the state or county had issued mandates. However, they did not.

We ask you to further review the recommendations of the AAP, the MDHHS, and the CDC and reverse your decision to make masks optional for all students. Please require that (at the least) all unvaccinated students wear masks in the classroom until such time that a vaccine is approved for students under 12 and those students willing have had the opportunity to reach immune status. This is the only real way to offer equitable choices for the student s and their parents at this time. We truly wish that we did not have to ask you for this, but the virus is constantly changing course and we all need to operate flexibly at this time.

If there is a reason why the district is unable or unwilling to institute a mask policy without an order from the state or county, we ask that the BOE and CLT pass a resolution to formally requesting the state and county to issue such an order.