As the students of Denver Public Schools, we expect better covid safety regulations due to the incredible surge in COVID-19 cases from the immune evading variant, Omicron. Us students don't feel safe going to school in these deadly conditions, not until the covid cases are brought down to a safer number. We see it as necessary to speak up about how the Denver Public School District enacts its COVID regulations.

In the current school environment, we are facing a lot of health concerns when it comes to covid; affecting both staff and students immensely. It is sad and frustrating having to go to school when it means we are risking our lives, whether that’s in the short term with a COVID infection or long term via long COVID. We see how COVID has been diminishing our staff and student body more each day since returning from winter break. Our hallways that are usually packed with students between classes are practically empty because of all the students out sick; YET, WE ARE STILL IN-PERSON! Over 66% of Americans are vaccinated, but we still have a surge in omicron and other covid variants in the DPS district, yet we are still risking our lives going to school.

We are demanding action to be taken to keep the staff and students safe! We are demanding that we need:

• KN95/N95 masks are provided to all students on campuses
• Ventilation in all classrooms and airflow to lessen risk in COVID cases 
• 2x a week PCR and rapid testing for the students in person  
• Integrated learning for those at home with COVID or those choosing to stay home for their protection
• Access to more outdoor spaces for safe lunches
• More social distancing measures in the hallways and stairs of schools

If the district does not make in-person safe by implementing our demands, we need to go back to remote learning until COVID cases decrease to Fall 2021 semester!

We’re giving the district a week to meet our demands, starting Jan 12, 2022. If the district has not met our needs by Wednesday, Jan 19, 2022, the student body will walk out the following day in protest. We will continue to walk out every day until our demands are met. We are willing to risk our education and go on strike if it means we are protecting our health!