We all know about the Corona Virus outbreak by now. This virus has a long incubation period up to 14 days. A person infected with the virus may not show any symptoms at all but still fully capable of transmitting the virus to others. This makes this virus hard to diagnose and hard to stop. 

US has barred all foreign traveler who has traveled to China in the past 14 days from entering the US starting Feb 2nd, 2020. US citizens who have been to Wuhan are required to be quarantined for 14 days upon return. US citizens who have traveled to anywhere other than Wuhan in China are advised to self-quarantine for 14 days. Palo Alto Unified, Saratoga Unified, Fremont Unified, and Oakland Unified have all implemented the same 14 days self-quarantine policy following the recommendation from CDC and The White House Executive Order. 

However, SFUSD has decided not to follow the same recommendations of CDC and the Executive Order. SFUSD is encouraging students who just returned from China to attend school without any self-quarantine if they are not showing cold or flu symptoms. After we now know some carriers may never show any symptoms at all and still able to pass on the virus.  This policy might be reasonable three weeks ago. So much more information has been released and this policy is no longer considered sound policy that would protect the safety of our children. 

We, the parents and concerned members of the community, ask SFUSD to change their policy to encourage if not require students to stay home for 14 days before returning to school if they have just returned from traveling in China. Without a clearly stated policy from the school district, any of the parents feel unsafe to send their young children to school. Parents of children just came back from China is unclear what’s the best option. Sending their children to school would upset the entire community. Not sending their children to school, puts their children at risk of getting marked as unexcused absence. Please put the parents out of this confusion and misery. Please help us keep our children out of harm’s way.

SFUSD, please make the right decision. Help the children in our school district to stay safe, out of harm’s way. Please give the parents a peace of mind, knowing their children’s safety is our district’s highest concern.