Recent announcements from PAUSD regarding Return to School , be it in the form of In Person or Independent Study are creating significant concern among parents in the community. This petition lists the areas of concern which @PAUSD is requested to review and take immediate empathetic remedial action on . 

In Person Instruction : 

• Share current status, within privacy norms & guidelines, of vaccinated & unvaccinated peoples in the PAUSD community. Provide details, at a school level ,  of eligible ( including exempt - medical & other  )  Teachers , Staff &  Students . 
• Mandate requirement for Vaccination amongst all eligible ( & not medically exempt ) Teachers , Staff & Students. Take appropriate actions to accelerate compliance. 
• Provide details of Testing Plan being implemented at a school level - especially as it related to Testing Cadence of eligible ( including exempt - medical & other ) Unvaccinated Teachers, Staff & Students.
• Mandate a daily Testing Cadence for all unvaccinated ( including exempt - medical & others ) Teachers, Staff & Students keeping in mind the prevalence, contagiousness & onset timeframe of the Delta variant . 
• Mandate a mechanism to ensure safety post holiday or travel to areas with Substantial or High Covid rate , prior to returning to school .  
• Mandate outdoor masking as well of all peoples on a school campus.
• Ensure appropriate governance mechanisms especially during break times including lunch.
• Provide details for scenarios like athletics where outdoor masking might not be possible , or  assemblies where density would be high  - and how safety will be ensured in such situations.

Independent Study : 

• Acknowledge that irrespective of the status of the Legislation around Virtual Schools which expired , Independent Study is fundamentally different in nature than the Virtual School experience that children had for the 2020-21 school year. This is a cause for significant concern amongst parents . Furthermore , due to the still unknown long term effects of Covid , parents have a legitimate safety concern as well which have been compounded by the perceived gaps in PAUSD's planned Testing , Prevention , Masking & other safety measures as detailed in the section above. 
• Rapidly review the possibility of offering Virtual Streaming from within the classrooms so as to allow for inclusive & aligned instruction - and take actions to make the same available immediately , so as to allow minimum disruption for the Fall school start. 
• Confirm details of the process & results of its review for  Elementary, Middle & High School levels. 
• Acknowledge that its current actions e.g. of prohibiting children enrolled in Independent Study from participating in in-person activities & other community activities such a participation in Clubs, School Parades , Dances etc   - PAUSD has in effect removed access for these children to activities that where safety for all could actually be easily implementable. As such , PAUSD has denied significant social & emotional well being mechanisms to the students enrolled in Independent Study.
• Acknowledge that by its current actions as described above , PAUSD has, in effect, engaged in a non inclusive & potentially punitive stance towards  impacted members of the community including students , parents & families  - and this stance of exclusion from the community is  not consistent with PAUSD's stated mission. 
• Immediately & without exception remediate the above by rapidly reviewing & instituting appropriate actions to create a holistic, inclusive and community enhancing Independent Study experience. This will ensure that students & families that choose this option as a result of concerns - be they health related or otherwise e.g concerns with PAUSD's safety , vaccination , testing & prevention approach as outlined above in this petition. - are not excluded from the community, as is the current case. 

We urge the PAUSD to review this petition with the empathetic viewpoint we have come to expect from them as a partner in the community. 

Please support and share this petition with all concerned parents in the community.