We are advocating for the return of in-person learning options as well as extracurricular activities for grades 4 to 12 on (or prior to) September 28, 2020, for families and educators in Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), Virginia, who want to be in the classroom. We are also advocating for schools to remain open for all grades moving forward through the school year. 

We understand that COVID is serious. We recognize that there are increases in COVID rates within Montgomery County, and there will continue to be a rise. However, we firmly believe the recent increases have been and will continue to be contained within the Virginia Tech student community. We believe that MCPS has and can follow all CDC guiding principles and mitigation strategies to effectively prevent the exposure and transmission of COVID. While it is inevitable that MCPS students contract COVID, we request that MCPS adopt practices that address COVID on a school level, rather than for the entire school district. In other words, if there is a case in a single school, we request that other schools remain open. 

Each family has the choice of hybrid (in-person/remote), remote, or virtual to match their own level of risk, comfort, or fear. They may also transition from hybrid to remote at their will. We believe that all families should have all of these options available to them. . 

We represent a wide range of taxpayers, from essential workers that continue to offer critical services that everyone benefits from each day, to business owners, university professors and stay at home parents. We believe that without the hybrid option, many families may select to move to other locations or even select homeschooling. 

We are concerned about the long-term well-being of our children, as well as the economic and health well-being of our larger community without the hybrid option.  

Children need to be physically in school, even for 2 hours a day, including the following reasons:  

• effective, time-tested education that matches most students’ learning styles 
• in-person interaction that more naturally allows for the teacher to assess students’ grasp of information and academic progress through non-verbal cues (not always possibly remotely, especially if video-conferencing is turned off)
• higher accountability of students   
• direct support for students with low digital literacy 
• teacher oversight of the learning process/class, particularly for students who may not have adult supervision at home, helping to ensure equity and the prevention of educational disparities
• social development and the feeling of belonging 
• mental health (to prevent depression, isolation, suicide, other)(September is national suicide awareness month!)
• opportunities for easy access to free meals (not requiring transportation to schools, as is currently outlined)
• availability of extracurricular activities, including approved athletic activities following VHSL standards and CDC guidelines 
• other social services (such as therapeutic day treatment and other school based clinical services) and resources for children in need 
• to allow for working parents to smoothly balance work and school expectations, and not force some parents to have to choose between work and (managing) school for their child(ren) 

Please give each of us the option to decide what is best for our child(ren).