This is petition is to demand that Governor Larry Hogan, Dr. Karen Salmon, and the Maryland State Board of Education recant their mandate that all Maryland Schools should reopen by March 1st and give school systems the option to remain in distance learning for the remainder of the SY2020-21.

The State of Maryland has NOT guaranteed that all schools are outfitted with the appropriate PPE equipment needed to allow students to return. and procurement/outfitting of equipment will not occur by March 1st which puts returning students at risk. 

A mandate to force school systems, parents, teachers, and students to adapt to yet another learning model during the pandemic is irresponsible, to say the least. It is hard to believe that any school system will have all teachers, administrative staff, bus drivers, and other school personnel vaccinated in a period of 40 days. 

We want all Maryland School Systems to have the option to remain in distance learning, procure PPE equipment for our schools, train on safety protocols over the summer, and reopen next year when it is safe to do so. In all things, the will of the taxpayers of each county should determine when the schools should open, not a state mandate.