We, the parents, teachers, family, and students of SD308 who want In-Person learning, are calling for the immediate return to school with NO MORE DELAYS.  We believe parents/guardians of SD308 should have the OPTION to CHOOSE In-Person Learning.  We are asking for MORE In-Person instructional time than the current Remote model and the proposed Hybrid model provide.  

Our ultimate goal is for students to return in person all day, everyday.  We also understand there may be a desire to attain this goal via progression.  We believe the starting point for elementary and junior high students should be 4-5 half days, thus eliminating the A/B schedule.   We are asking for High School students to go 2-3 full days a week on a weekly rotation schedule to begin, if 5 half days are not attainable.

The current Remote for All instruction should have ended with the conclusion of the 2019-2020 school year.  While serving an immediate purpose this past spring, it has proven to be an inadequate solution for many in this district during the current school year.  Limited teacher time, technical issues, and difficult student engagement are all resulting in diminished education.  We believe 1:1 Chromebooks are not necessary to start In-Person.  We can work around it while waiting for the Chromebooks to arrive.  Using the current metrics of positive cases in the district's 4 main zip codes does not follow the science, as schools have not been proven to be spreaders of COVID-19 (see examples below) and these numbers DO NOT reflect what is happening in schools. Therefore, there is no reason for further delays.  We believe they can return safely.   

Many surrounding school districts have safely provided consistent, daily face-face hybrid or full-time options for students since August.  Below are a few examples.  

YORKVILLE- district 115 ( Aug- Dec)
Enrollment- over 6000 students
In-person- 4450
Confirmed cases ( Staff and Students)-307
Staff-49 Students-158
**YHS-1407 students attending in-person

ST. CHARLES- district 303 ( Aug-Nov)
Enrollment- 12, 236
In-person- 8,632
Confirmed cases ( staff and students)-355
Staff-85 students- 270
**North High-1375 students attending in-person
** East High-1525 students attending in- person

ROCKFORD- district 205 ( Sept-Nov 30th)
Enrollment- 28,900
In-person-12,000
Rockford does a weekly updated dashboard for COVID-19 cases. The recent positive case count was 16. To view this dashboard: rps205.com

SD308 has not provided these options for our students who want to return, even though over 60% of parents voted for one of the In-Person options in a SD308 survey and have voiced their concerns tirelessly with little response or consideration.

The District has not put our students' emotional well-being and mental health at the forefront of their decision making process.  There are ample amounts of statistics showing the increase in anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts amongst the most least impacted age groups (i.e. school aged children) associated with COVID-19.  

Please sign this petition and forward it to everyone you know who wants In-Person learning to start immediately (January 19th at the latest), with no more delays. Our goal is to get those who want in-person back in the classroom.

Sincerely,

SD308 Parents, Teachers, and Students