Over this last year our school district has faced many challenges in responding to the Covid-19 restrictions and guidelines. Soon after the 2020-2021 school year began, it was so encouraging to see students back in classrooms.  The students  were once again beginning to thrive, grades were improving, and the overall mental health of those attending had noticeably improved. While we understand the district has faced many hard decisions with the recent increase in COVID-19 cases in our area, we also see the need for our students to safely return to the classroom. The high school districts that surround our area have already begun in-person learning with plans to increase to a 5 day learning model soon. We feel that the NJUHSD should follow suit. The district is doing our students a great disservice by not allow them to return to at least a hybrid in person learning model. Our hope with this petition is that the district will hear from the families of the students and the students themselves. We are asking that the superintendent of schools and the school board would value the input of the parents and students.  We feel very strongly that students should have the option to be able to return to in-person learning immediately.  Thank you for your consideration. 
Here’s  an article from a medical perspective. 
https://gbdeclaration.org/