Website:  https://www.change.org/

We the parents, voters, and taxpayers of the Centennial School District submit this petition to reopen all schools for full day, full week, in person learning.

It is without dispute that children of all ages need the social interaction that attending school provides, and that the lessons learned from this interaction are not just as critically important as a formal education, but actually more so.  Children today are already losing the ability to interact socially, and interpret social cues, because of the ever increasing presence of technology in their lives.  Prior to the shutdowns our society was already in danger of having future generations not master the critical life skills of personal and social interaction.  It is also without dispute the toll this lack of interaction with friends is taking on our children emotionally and psychologically.  Do not make this worse by removing from their lives the single best place for children to learn these skills at age appropriate levels, school.

The science is in, and it is clear.  In person attendance in school does not result in increased infections or risk.  Children have always been at low risk to contract, transmit, or become ill from COVID-19.  Numerous school districts throughout the country have been open full time in person, and have had no increase in infections or illnesses.  Not a small increase, or an insignificant increase...NO increase.  The CDC just revised it's data on September 10th.  The survival rate for cases in the 0-19 age group is 99.997%.  That is a mortality rate of less than one half of one percent.  The average infection rate for ages 0-17 is just 4.25 %.  This is not the rate of children that get sick, this is the rate of ALL infections, a vast majority of which do not even get sick.

Since we are urged to follow the science, and the science is indisputably clear, there is no sensible reason to keep our schools closed.  If schools are not reopened, the only inference that can be made is that there are other reasons, perhaps political or under pressure from the teachers.  Either reason is abhorrent and amoral.  We will not quietly stand by and do nothing while our children are made to suffer while being used as pawns.  We see the frustration, difficulties, and sadness our children are dealing with every day, and we will not forget.