On Wednesday, November 18th, 2020, Dr. Jerry Thacker, Superintendant of PHM schools, announced that Penn High School and all three middles schools to close and go 100% virtual until January 15th. While there are state-enforced regulations to make the High School close, the decision to close the middle schools was 100% Dr. Thackers decision, and it was a decision behind the backs of the Teachers, The Students, and The Parents.  This is in blatant violation of the Triangle of Sucess and should've been an issue open for parents and the community to decide like it was with the past re-opening plans. Instead, this decision was swiftly made with no thought of science or actual consideration and is now threatening to harm many families all across the PHM area. 

Transmission of COVID-19 is incredibly low at middle schools, especially with all of the safety precautions that have been invested in and implemented into the PHM schools. With most every case that has happened has not been from school or transmitted at school, but was actually transmitted before or after school, something the school closure doesn't affect. Especially with the low number of kids going to school, the risk of transmission is almost nonexistent and there is no reason to close the schools. Children who chose to go to school are taking the risk, but that should be their decision. This is the plan that the parents voted and agreed on. Not something that forces all students to stay home.

COVID-19 is very serious, and numbers are rising, but the millions of dollars that PHM has invested in this has not gone to waste. From the masks to the cleaning, the schools are one of the safest places you can be. It makes zero sense what so ever that restaurants and bars can open at almost full capacity, yet we can't send children to get a quality education in a very safe place. 

That leads to another point, the quality of education. It is obvious that the PTA is trying very hard to make virtual learning work, but sadly it isn't. Many students who chose to go in person needed to go in person to help get their grades up, learn more, or pay more attention. In this new model, that is not possible at all. Many student's grades will tank, and many kids will do much more poorly in school. They needed to go into school to get the quality education that PHM promises, but now that's all being taken away. 

Overall, COVID needs to be taken seriously. But shutting down the quality education that many kids need is not the way to help stop the spread. We were doing a great job of keeping covid rates low in schools and should continue doing it. We did not EVER agree to a full shutdown of the middle schools, and it honestly is disappointing to me that the Board would force this onto us, without any science backing it, and expect compliance. I hereby request that the school board reevaluate, with community input this time, and hopefully change the verdict soon.