This petition is intended to demand immediate action from the Marlboro Township Board of Education to re-open our schools full-time.  Specifically, we are demanding that the Marlboro Township School District and Board of Education immediately develop a proposal that gives families the option of full-time virtual or full-time in person instruction.  We further demand that the Marlboro Township School District and Board of Education provide a timeline for implementation of the plan for all K-8 students, and that the plan be implemented within 30 days.  

Our students are suffering academically, socially and emotionally as a result of remote and hybrid learning. Our "hybrid" students started the 2020-2021 academic school year attending in-person class with their cohort 2-half days a week for 4 hours a day. In October, they moved into 4-half days a week. The remaining students attend school 100% virtually. Unfortunately, that has changed forcing all students to attend virtually. Our students need to be prioritized and our community believes that our letters, public comments, recommendations, and pleadings to the Marlboro Township Board of Education, specifically, Superintendent Eric Hibbs, has fallen on deaf ears. We have continually reached out to our Board of Education and Dr. Hibbs with questions about the planning to get our schools re-opened.  During this time, we have been met with resistance, avoidance, condescension, and defensive responses.  Most importantly, and after nearly 10 months, there has been NO plan on moving forward. There has been a complete lack of transparency and no one is listening to our pleas for a plan to get our students back into school. 

We are a community in need of our school leaders to act like leaders and to finally do what is best for our kids.  The district's role is to develop and update policies and plans and implement them. We need them to display their leadership and to reopen our schools while still maintaining proper and effective safety measures and complying with federal and state regulations.  

The CDC has declared:

"The many benefits of in-person learning should be weighed against the risks posed by COVID-19 spread. Of key significance, in-person learning is in the best interest of the students, when compared to virtual learning." 
Furthermore, the CDC states:
"The unique and critical role that schools play makes them a priority for reopening and remaining open, enabling students to receive both academic instruction and enable the provision of other critical services and supports. By strictly implementing mitigation strategies, schools will be able to meet the needs of their students and community, while reducing the risk of COVID-19 spread."
The nation's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, has also sent a clear message urging schools to reopen.  "School officials should be ready to open for the second semester in late January, at least for elementary school students.  Districts also should share their plans with the public." Furthermore, he has stated that in-person classes should be the "default position."  "The spread of COVID-19 among children and from children is not really big at all, not like one would have suspected.  So, let's try to get the kids back."  
We have adapted to new safety protocols at home, in stores, throughout doctor's offices, and in sports, so MUST we adapt at school.  We can no longer sit idly by while our Board of Education fails to plan, fails to act and fails to meet our students basic needs.  Virtual learning strips our students of the ability to be a part of our society, to read body language, make real eye contact, truly advocate for themselves, and to engage in social situations. 
Virtual learning is failing!   
What message are we sending to our students? You can go to Target, but you can't go into school. You can play basketball, baseball, soccer or football without a mask on, but you can't go into school. Feel free to go to the diner with your friends and family, but you can't go into school.  

Virtual Learning is not working and our Board of Education must stand by their mission statement that reads: "The mission of the Marlboro Township School District is to develop, through a technology infused curriculum, life-long learners who are responsible citizens prepared to make positive contributions to be productive in employment in our modern economy. The board is committed to guiding every pupil’s growth towards becoming a self-respecting individual who can effectively function politically, economically, and socially in a democratic society”.

Our townships mission would result in the following:

- Maximizing student potential
- Help students become productive and contributing members of society
- Help students maintain a commitment to life-long learning
- Have students achieve the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards at all grade levels.

By signing this petition, you support the demand that the Marlboro Township School District and Board of Education come up with a proposal that gives families the option of 5 full days virtual or 5 full days in person instruction. You further support the demand that the Marlboro Township School District and Board of Education provide a timeline for implementation of the plan for all K-8 students, and that the plan be implemented within 30 days.  

With regards,

Marlboro Township Parents