Provision for families to choose 100% remote learning education option for their unvaccinated kids under 12 years age .

Summary of Petition

We, the undersigned, are concerned parents of students attending schools in Alameda County, California. We respectfully submit this petition advocating adoption of the following goals for the upcoming 2021-2022 academic year:

Provision for families to choose 100% remote learning education option for their unvaccinated students;
Parents should be allowed the flexibility to decide whether to physically send their student(s) to school without repercussions on grade, transcripts or attendance.
Formalized parental involvement in the decision-making process for educational choices offered to students.
We acknowledge the incredible challenges that the Covid-19 pandemic has caused for everyone and appreciate the steps taken to safeguard our children’s health and safety while striving to maintain equal academic access for all students. We understand that all students are required to return full time in person learning for the academic year 2021-22 however with recent spike of Delta variant cases related hospitalizations in unvaccinated population is higly concerning.

We note the there was no survey for the academic year 2021-22 and Covid-19 pandemic currently on an upward trajectory with US reporting its daily number of new cases (more than 100,000) and California alone reported 10,000 + cases on Monday, August 9, 2021. As of August 5, nearly 4.3 million children have tested positive for Covid-19 since the onset of the pandemic,” the AAP report reads. “Almost 94,000 cases were added the past week, a continuing substantial increase. After declining in early summer, child cases have steadily increased since the beginning of July.”

In this context, we urge adoption of the goals stated above.

Discussion and Analysis

1. A provision for families to choose 100% remote learning option tied directly to the students’ assigned schools should be made available, rather than an enforced “independent study” program where students are detached from their assigned schools and teachers.

We understand that there are several “hybrid” models proposed by individual schools to the Fremont school district including remote learning. Students should be allowed to participate in mainstream education for their respective grades within their school community utilizing a remote learning model that does not require them to be physically present in school. There are a number of scenarios which necessitate this option being provided to families and students:

Health and Safety: 

Students who are immuno-compromised and those with pre-existing health conditions may be required to learn remotely for an extended and unforeseeable period of time. 
Family members in extended families, including vulnerable senior citizens, could be at increased risk. 
If a family member is diagnosed with COVID -19, that student along with all other students in his/her small group of 12 ” would have to be quarantined. This will disrupt the learning schedule for those students for at least two weeks. If more cases come to light, the quarantine will be extended again for those students. This cycle can, hypothetically, get repeated several times.
We note schools are no longer implementing implements protocols to conduct temperature checks, there is no preventive identification of asymptomatic carriers of the virus.   
Asymptomatic carriers can put students, teachers, and other administrators at increased risk for contracting the virus.  
Schools do not have the resources or the manpower to enforce the ordinance on face coverings.  Enforcing mask wearing for a minimum of 4 hours a day for students especially small kids is nearly impossible.   

Uniformity and equity in education:  

To delay such training further would disadvantage students who were amenable and ready to be accountable in a 100% online environment (“ready-to-learn”).  The benefit of offering a 100% online learning option for ready-to-learn students is that it limits the need for their participation in class physically, and therefore, limits the probability of further spread of the virus.  
Our goal is to make our schools a safer place for the children to learn virtually. We, as parents, are willing to provide the necessary support to the respective schools to help enable this. 

2. Parents should be allowed the flexibility to decide whether to physically send their student(s) to school without repercussions on grade, transcripts or attendance.

Parents should be allowed the flexibility to decide the appropriate educational model for their student. This should not be mandated either explicitly or implicitly through repercussions on grades, transcripts  or the ability to reflect an affiliation to the student’s assigned school.  

3. In addition to local educational agency representatives, parents should be consulted and involved in deciding among educational choices for the upcoming academic year 2021-22.

We assume the California legislature will pass new laws to accommodate revised education strategies in light of the pandemic. To date, parental involvement has been limited. We understand that safety was ranked highest followed by the request for quality instruction for at least four hours a day. Parents have been in the dark after this point. There has been no transparency regarding the alternative models being considered or pursued by each school or the constraints that the schools are facing. This impedes parents’ fiduciary and family responsibilities and leaves them unequipped to make critical decisions that impact the educational future of their children. 

Parents do not want to be placed in a reactionary situation where we are forced to make vital decisions based on limited options. Further, given that the parent pool in the Alameda area includes many parents with technological expertise, as well as well-respected educators.

Accordingly, we ask that the Alameda County explicitly involve a diverse parent panel in the decision making process, even if just limited to the Presidents or representatives of the Parent Teacher Associations of the respective schools.

We remain ready to assist, as needed.