We, the families and students of Ridgewood Public Schools, are requesting the Board of Education and Superintendent, Dr. Gorman, take immediate steps to implement full-day daily in-person learning in all schools by April 12, 2021 and enable the families and students of our district to have meaningful input into the district’s Covid 19 mitigation plans and procedures in our schools.  

It has been almost a year since Ridgewood Public Schools first closed in response to the Covid 19 pandemic, and in-person learning in our district still remains very limited.  It is now clear that the risks of keeping our children from attending school in-person full-time outweigh the risk of Covid 19 transmission in the schools to students and teachers.  Multiple studies clearly demonstrate that there is little correlation between community spread of Covid 19 and in-school transmission. 

Evidence is mounting that school closures and limited in-person learning present significant harms to children and adolescents. The nation's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, has continued to send a clear message urging schools to reopen.  "School officials should be ready to open for the second semester in late January, at least for elementary school students.  Districts also should share their plans with the public."  Furthermore, he has stated that in-person classes should be the "default position."  "The spread of COVID-19 among children and from children is not really big at all, not like one would have suspected.  So, let's try to get the kids back." 

Evidence documenting the harms of remote learning is growing. Mental health-related visits for children aged 5-11 and 12-17 increased 24% and 31%, respectively, in 2020 compared to the prior year. Suicide ideation has increased in young adults since Covid pandemic restrictions began, and recently a spate of suicides in and around Las Vegas caused the Clark County school district to begin to bring its students back to school as quickly as possible. Other harms from prolonged remote and hybrid learning include increased depression, rising obesity rates, on-line addictions and social isolation. Data from 2 national testing programs (Renaissance Learning Inc. and NWEA) show widespread performance declines academically.  And every month we delay, the gap worsens.

Action items:

The current state of our schools is inadequate and must change as soon as possible. Given the information outlined above, we respectfully request the Ridgewood Board of Education and RPS Superintendent, Dr. Gorman, immediately:

1. Commit to implementing policies that will immediately maximize in-person learning five days a week for all children in our district starting April 12, 2021, including:
   • the use of multilayered mitigation measures such as masks and plexiglass barriers to reduce the need for 6 foot social distancing in the classroom and revisit the guidelines around close contact quarantine.  Many school districts have reduced distancing among kids to 4ft and have successfully returned to in-person school.  Other districts have also secured Covid-19 test kits from the state so weekly testing can be conducted.
   • explore all potential uses of alternative space (including non-school community space) that would allow students to return to full -time in-person learning for the remainder of the 2020-2021 school year 
   • creative partnerships with community members and a flexible posture to staffing and other contractual issues during this extraordinary time, including allowing parents and other volunteers to assist in the school setting to ensure that our children are able to maximize in-person learning time.
2. Commit to robust inclusion of RPS families and students in developing and monitoring pandemic policies and procedures. The RPS current pandemic response plan only includes 33 parents on school level pandemic committees. Not only is this an inadequate representation given the size of our district, there is no family or student participation at the district administration or Board of Education level. We request the creation of a district/administrative level committee composed of families and students to provide direct feedback on the district’s pandemic response measures back to the community.
   • We request school level hot-lines or other communication tools to enable families and students to request immediate help in the event of learning disruptions and social and emotional issues related to the district’s pandemic response. 
      
3. Commit to robust monitoring and assessment of students’ academic, social and emotional health as long as mitigation efforts related to the Covid-19 pandemic persist in our district. We request regular surveys of families and students regarding current district pandemic policies and future modifications. It was evident at the recent K1 presentation by the administration that the district is relying on outdated survey results and subjective report cards to drive decisions and policies.
   
   • We request third-party assessments with standardized metrics of our children’s academic progress and social and emotional health in order to identify and mitigate any gaps arising from district Covid-19 pandemic response policies and procedures.

If you support a return to in-person school on a full-time basis before the end of 2020-2021 school year with greater representation of Ridgewood families and students in the decision making process, and want the RPS Board of Education to take immediate action, please support this petition with your signature.

Thank you,

Ridgewood Parents United for the Return of All Students Back to School