The members of the community who have signed below are in favor of implementing a virtual and/or a hybrid learning model. We, as a community, are wary of the health and safety of Massachusetts schools students and staff due to the increase of Covid-19 cases in our state. The cases of Covid-19 in Massachusetts are at an all-time high. Every day during school's winter break we had thousands of people testing positive. Within Massachusetts, on the first day of winter break (December 21st), there were six thousand new cases per day and on the last day of break (January 1st), that number more than doubled to twelve thousand.  The number of cases currently exceeds the amount when schools were fully virtual in the winter of 2021. 

Hospitals are full, and people are being relocated due to the lack of beds. There is a field hospital set to open up at Umass Lowell due to the lack of space in the hospitals because of Covid-19. Numbers are exponentially growing and need to be assessed. Action needs to be taken to keep students healthy and safe. 

Allowing the students to go online or into school on a select day gives them the ability to get tested if they feel sick and quarantine, while simultaneously allowing the number of covid cases within schools to decrease. Going remote or hybrid now will also  allow us as a state to significantly decrease the number of covid cases during the winter months when cases tend to spike, in order to limit the total amount of time eventually spent in school virtually. If we slow the spread now, we won’t have to worry about the end of the school year: the time at which graduation, prom, and other important aspects of the high school experience happen. We want our students to have a “normal” high school year, but this won’t be possible if we continue at the rate we are now.

It is to our understanding that the country, along with DESE, is pushing to continue to keep schools open because of students' mental health. We understand mental health is a concern due to the ongoing pandemic (and a concern that many grappled with during virtual learning), but the stress students are forced to handle when becoming positive or a close contact for covid increases that stress significantly. The lack of options for students who test positive or become close contacts means students are forced to choose between risking the safety of their classmates or their education. The choice of virtual learning would eliminate that choice entirely.

The health and safety of Massachusetts students, staff, and faculty need to be ensured. Students should not have to worry about their safety when attending school. If we don't take action now, there are going to be greater consequences in the future.