On June 25th, the Board of Education announced GCPS parents would be allowed to choose between in-person and digital learning, following the results of a community survey. On June 25th, Gwinnett County had 7,036 cases of COVID-19, the most of any county in the state of Georgia.

On July 7th, just three days before parents' decisions were due, the Board of Education held a special board meeting to discuss reopening plans after receiving backlash from parents and community members alike for their lack of any sort of plan. The catch? No public speakers. During the meeting, GCPS issued a mask mandate for all in-person students and staff during the school year. In addition, the Board extended the decision deadline until July 12th, stating that parents not filling out the survey would automatically be placed into in-person learning. On July 7th, Gwinnett County had 9,787 cases of COVID-19, the most of any county in the state of Georgia.

On July 17th, the Board of Education held its monthly public meeting and work session, which many community members had been waiting for to receive updates on the planning for the school year. During the 3 PM work session, Superintendent J. Alvin Wilbanks tabled a discussion over reopening plans for the executive work session, which is not available to the public. After reconvening for the 6 PM budget discussion, the Board erroneously switched the viewing format for at-home viewers from Microsoft Teams to GCPS TV; during the ensuing meeting, GCPS TV crashed continuously and made it nearly impossible for those not present physically to watch the meeting, a clear attempt to obfuscate the public's responsibility to hold board members accountable. During the 7 PM public meeting, the Board finally made its first public comments regarding the pandemic: the purchasing of chromebooks and mobile hotspots for students without device access. After the Board conducted its agenda, citizens who had previously signed up were invited to speak; over 20 speakers presented to the board, including myself, and EVERY. SINGLE. SPEAKER. was in favor of digital learning. After hearing so many calls to switch to virtual learning, the Board members gave their final remarks, and only member Blair seemed to carry the will of the people by demanding the board push back the start of the school year and adequately prep for digital learning. In addition, Chairman Radloff issued an inflammatory remark towards member Blair, seemingly saying "I could strangle him." On July 17th, Gwinnett County had 12,489 cases of COVID-19, the most of any county in the state of Georgia, with around 8% of all cases pediatric.

The Board of Education is not only responsible for the the education of our youth but the safety of our students and staff. The right to choose cannot be enforced when a parents' choice of digital learning will most certainly spread the virus across the county. GCPS is currently expected to have upwards of 20 student deaths, which seems completely acceptable to the Board. More importantly, teachers have no choice, no voice, no say in the matter; staff members are forced to attend work with no hazard pay, regardless if they are teaching digitally or in-person. Many teachers and substitutes are at an age where infection could have disastrous consequences on their health, and the Board refuses to set aside any money for hazard pay or sick leave following the 10 days paid for by the CARES act. The budget set aside by the Board also has no mention of health care costs for students or teachers infected by coronavirus, opening the school up to lawsuits; the Board did make sure to include several ambiguous terms, though, such as over $200,000 for "Books" and $11,000 for "Furniture." Especially during a time of austerity cuts, how can the Board's constituents believe there is no money left to ensure teachers and students are safe and healthy in the event of infection when money is being callously thrown around.

School closures have been shown to work, so lets inform parents NOW of digital learning instead of waiting for the inevitable disaster to come. No death or hospitalization is an acceptable number (despite what member Boyce would want the public to believe). GCPS Board of Education, we, your constituents, ask you to enforce digital learning for all students in line with all metro area school districts (including Atlanta, Fulton, Cobb, and Dekalb counties' public school systems).