We, the undersigned, are Ohioans concerned with the lack of leadership being displayed when it comes to the safe reopening of our schools. The recommendations released from the Governor’s office left much to be desired in the way of protecting teachers, staff, and students. Following these recommendations the 1,093 school districts in our state have been placed between a rock and a hard place. Educational leaders, who are not medical professionals, are being asked to make health care decisions for thousands of lives. They are feeling pressure from all sides and in many cases are making choices based on the political climate, which may or may not be in the best interest of all stakeholders. 

We are asking you, the leaders of our schools, health care agencies, and state, to turn to research and science. We are asking you to make decisions based on the research and advice of doctors and scientists. We are asking you to protect our most vulnerable even if doing so does not endear you to some people. We are asking, ultimately, that you take up the mantle of leadership that we have entrusted you with. 

There is ample historical evidence that demonstrates the efficiency with which COVID-19 can spread throughout a school, even in countries that have far better controlled the pandemic, infecting young people and adults alike. These cases include, but are not limited to:

Mascouche, Quebec, Canada: “Twelve out of 27 children contracted COVID-19, as did four employees.” (Montreal Gazette, May 5, 2020)
France: “Just a week after one-third of French schoolchildren went back to school in an easing of the coronavirus lockdown, there has been a flurry of about 70 Covid-19 cases linked to schools.” (The Independent, May 18, 2020)
Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada: “Almost an entire class of students at a Trois-Rivières school contracted COVID-19 despite physical distancing and other prevention measures.” (Montreal Gazette, June 4, 2020)

We have seen other countries, including those that have handled the pandemic better than the U.S., have ordered schools to close soon after reopening due to a rise in local cases, including, but not limited to:

Israel: “Five schools and kindergartens were closed Friday due to coronavirus infections, according to the Ministry of Education. In total, 92 educational institutions have been shuttered since students and teachers went back to school last month. More than 13,000 students and staff are in self-isolation, and 304 people have tested positive for the virus.” (Haaretz, May 6, 2020)
“On Tuesday, in testimony to the Israeli parliament, Dr. Udi Kliner, Sadetzki’s deputy, reported that schools—not restaurants or gyms—turned out to be the country’s worst mega-infectors.” 
Beijing, China: “Beijing raised its level of health alert to the second highest on Tuesday, ordering schools to close and urging people to work from home as China’s government pressed to extinguish a spike in coronavirus infections menacing the capital.” (New York Times, June 16, 2020)

Here in the United States, our top experts have said time and time again that schools should reopen based on local data. Dr. Fauci, our nation's top infectious disease expert, told Congress that, “local officials should make the decision to reopen schools based on the prevalence of the virus in their district” (NPR, June 30, 2020). The American Academy of Pediatrics, in conjunction with the American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association, and the School Superintendents Association said that, “schools in areas with high levels of COVID-19 community spread should not be compelled to reopen against the judgment of local experts.  A one-size-fits-all approach is not appropriate for return to school decisions” (AAP, July 10, 2020).

To accommodate for the different threat risks in each locality, we are demanding that Ohio mandate that no school building be open for the entire first semester (remote learning only) and that a leveled response guide openings for second semester. These responses should be based on what level the county of each school is in, and based on the Ohio COVID-19 Risk Level Guidelines for the Public. Based on these recommendations from the state we demand that school openings be as follows:

Level 1
Blended, 1/2 in person, 1/2 remote learning
Level 2
Blended, ½ in person, ½ remote learning
Level 3
Full-time remote learning
Level 4
Full-time remote learning
Schools should not move to a more open level until there has been a 14-day decrease in new case numbers. School buildings should not fully open for in person learning until there are 14 days with no new COVID cases in their county. We are also demanding that masks be mandatory PK-12 in all school settings, with exceptions based on doctors orders, and when eating/drinking. 

There is so much about this virus that we simply do not know. The information seems to change daily. That change of information should not put us off from making the hard decisions, but rather encourage us that a plethora of caution is needed. Information recently released from the World Health Organization states that the virus can be transmitted via “contact, droplet, airborne, fomite, fecal-oral, bloodborne, mother-to-child, and animal-to-human transmission” (WHO, July 9, 2020). This information that the virus can be contracted through airborne transmission flies in the face of everything we have been told so far. Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, readily admits that, “the nation does not yet have enough data -- because of the limited testing of children at this point -- to draw conclusions about the infection rate among children” (CNN, July 12, 2020). To put it quite simply, we do not know what we do not know. What we do know should be enough to give us pause before opening our schools. The latest data out of Florida shows us that ⅓ of children tested were positive for COVID-19 (The Hill, July 15,2020). This should be enough to make us scale back our own reopening plans and err on the side of caution. 

We also ask that you recognize the incredible amount of risk you are asking of our teachers and staff. We offered you evidence at the beginning of this letter that speaks to how quickly this virus can spread throughout schools. Dr. Deborah Birx has stated that a full reopening of schools carries, “the biggest risk that children could serve as carriers who pass on the virus to teachers or members of their families in multi-generational homes” (CNN, July 12, 2020). You are asking our teachers and staff to put their lives, and the lives of their family, on the line in order to resume education as “normal.” Teachers and staff are not expendable. You should not ask them to lay down their lives, or to risk catastrophic complications, in order to return to school prematurely. 

The Secretary of Education stated in an interview recently that we should return to school and that only .02% of children would die. There are 1,660,354 students in the state of Ohio (Fordham Institute). If ⅓ of them tested positive that would be 547,916 cases. At a death rate of .02% that is 109 children dead. Are you prepared to bear that responsibility? According to the American Council on Science and Health, the average Infection Fatality Rate (IFR) for persons ages 20-64 is .0746%. Ohio has 103,803 teachers (Fordham Institute). If only ⅓ of them contracted COVID-19, 25 of those would die. This does not even account for other staff, parapros, cafeteria workers, counselors, admin, etc . . . It also does account for the unknown long-term effects of COVID-19. These numbers also assume reliability in current IFR rates, which can be expected to change as more and more children return to school. But you should be asking yourselves, what rate is too high? What number of student and teacher deaths is an acceptable number? Ten? Five? If the answer is not zero then we not only have a pandemic crisis on our hands, we have a morality crisis. 

In light of the steady rise of cases in the state of Ohio and all of the information presented in this letter, we demand that the state government mandate full remote learning for the entire first semester of the 2020-2021 school year. We further demand that during second semester the mandate should state that schools follow the following reopening plan: for levels 3 and 4, and blended learning for level 1 and 2. A change in school openings should only follow a 14-day decrease in the number of new cases. School buildings should not fully open for in person learning until there are 14 days of no new cases in their county. At all levels we demand that all persons in school buildings in the state of Ohio be required to wear masks, with exceptions only to those with medical exemptions, and at times when a person is eating or drinking.  

We thank you for your time and trust that you will make the responsible decision based on the data we have presented. 

Sincerely,