Prince William County, VA schools are transitioning to in-person learning. There are 15,208 COVID-19 cases in Prince William County alone, as of 9 November 2020. These numbers demonstrate it’s a poor time to send our children back...particularly when scientific studies have proven that children are susceptible to Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C), per the CDC (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/children/symptoms.html Johns Hopkins also reports that 9.1% of cases nationwide are children (https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/coronavirus-in-babies-and-children with unknown long-term consequences.

Children are not the only ones at risk; teachers are, as well. The Kaiser Family Foundation reports that 24%, or roughly one-quarter, of teachers nationwide have a condition that puts them at greater risk for COVID-19 (https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/issue-brief/how-many-teachers-are-at-risk-of-serious-illness-if-infected-with-coronavirus/ Teachers with families could transmit the virus to them. We already demand that our teachers sacrifice time and money for their career. We’re now demanding that they sacrifice their health, and their family’s health, as well. 

Please consider signing this petition, to urge the School Board to re-consider transitioning to in-person learning.