Concerned parents gave dramatic and overwhelming testimony at the 12/7/20 Kenai Peninsula School Board Meeting, their overall message was for ALL GRADES to return to in person classroom instruction starting this month.

The delay to return to in person education is harming children and families, some beyond repair. The School District’s long term closure is the result of weak, fearful actions and lack of leadership of the Superintendent and the School Board.

Continued isolation is the worst thing that can placed upon children. The unfounded fear, not facts, being used in the decision making, is punishing our students. Forced isolation without proper instruction has caused more harm to our children than a virus with a 98% recovery rate ever will cause. 

Parents on the Kenai Peninsula want schools open for all grades, now. The job of KPBSD is to facilitate educating children, not push an agenda forcing our community into a false sense of safety.

KPBSD has the ability to decide when teachers return to the classroom. Other states with much greater populations have kept their schools open. Waiting until 1/19/21 is unacceptable. Before Covid -19, Alaska’s test scores ranked near the bottom compared to other states, though funding per student ranked near the top.  KPBSD willingness to set our children even further behind is contrary to their mission statement, “To empower all learners to positively shape their future.”

As with every nurse, firefighter, police officer, and store employee, teachers are essential workers. By following proper safety guidelines, teachers are given the same level of protection as all essential workers.  Neither the state of Alaska nor federal government have instructed you to close schools, actually they recommend the opposite.  Major ventilation upgrades have been completed by the Kenai Peninsula Borough to help schools mitigate a workable plan, yet a delay exists.

Parents who do not want to have their child in a classroom has the choice of online learning. Homeschooling is also an option available.

During the 2019 contract negotiations, the community overwhelmingly supported KPBSD teachers and support staff. The message used was "it’s about the kids" now, our children are in a dire crisis.  They are not represented by an organized union, they are isolated, and they are suffering while falling further away from a proper education.

The effort of this petition is about ALL kids who are baring the burden of KPBSD decision to withhold adequate classroom instruction. We ask the KPEA and KPESA Union Leadership, parents, guardians, elected officials, and concerned citizens to publicly support allowing all students in ALL GRADES to return to in person classroom instruction by signing and sharing this petition.

In a step toward resolving this crisis, we ask the Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor and Assembly Members to support a resolution stating that;

 “The Kenai Peninsula is under an Educational Emergency we support allowing all students in ALL GRADES to return to in person classroom instruction immediately.”