As we continue to gradually reopen schools in Washington State, a number of teachers in the North Thurston Public School district with underlying medical conditions or who live with high-risk individuals have been requesting to continue teaching remotely. They have been denied. Teachers are being sidelined in the middle of the school year. Faced with a potential life-and-death decision, and saddled the weight of projecting a positive public image to the community, these teachers are being forced to stop teaching and burn valuable personal sick leave as they wait out their chance to be vaccinated.

Teachers deserve to be treated with more care and concern than this. If they are at risk, they deserve protection. With that in mind, we, the undersigned parents and community members in the North Thurston Public School district, ask that:

1. All requests to continue to teach remotely be immediately approved. 

2. The safety and health of our local community be prioritized above federal money being given to schools and districts that reopen.