​We believe the Ramapo Indian Hills School District developed a hybrid plan that meets and exceeds the State of New Jersey's latest guidelines. We also are confident in the data that continues to demonstrate New Jersey, and specifically the Franklin Lakes, Oakland, and Wyckoff (FLOW) communities, as mitigating the spread of SARS-CoV-2. Safety for all remains a priority. The plan, which was approved by the RIH Board of Education on August 3, 2020, along with the decreasing case, hospitalization, and death rates for New Jersey and particularly Bergen County, are what propel us to feel the schools should absolutely open for hybrid learning on September 8. Our specific reasons are as follows: 

• Over 80% of parent respondents said they selected the hybrid schedule. The district and BOE should not discount what the majority of the parents want. 
• The Rt (rate of transmission) for NJ has been at or below 1.0 daily since March 31, with the exception of four days in June, when it was 1.01. As of August 26, Gov. Murphy reported the current Rt is 0.78.
• The case rate for the FLOW community (Franklin Lakes, Oakland, & Wyckoff) has been deemed “suppressed” by the State of NJ for over four months, meaning cases rates are <450 per 100,000 people. 
• The NJ Dept of Health & Communicable Diseases Service continue to report our community/region as “low,” the safest designation for reopening schools, with a CALI rating of 1. CALI= Covid-19 Activity Level Index. A CALI rating of 1 means: the case rate is <1, the percent of covid-like illness (CLI) is <1.68%, the percent of positivity is <3%.
• The New York Times examined data from the Harvard Global Health Institute and developed metrics to determine how schools across the nation should open. Bergen County was reported as safe to reopen with hybrid scheduling. 
• The CDC’s updated guidelines for school openings state "The many benefits of in-person schooling should be weighed against the risks posed by Covid-19." Adults who work in schools are at the same level of risk as they are in their own communities, per the CDC guidelines.  The data in our state and in our community support community spread hasn't been a challenge, thankfully. 
• The CDC consistently states the virus is spread person-to-person and continues to advocate that the best way to mitigate it is by washing hands thoroughly, wearing face coverings, and maintaining physical distance. These are all identified in the RIH plan, which has procedures in place that meet the State’s guidelines for reopening. 
• The HVAC systems for both Ramapo and Indian Hills were upgraded in the last three years. Per administrators in the RIH district, LAN Associates said the systems are the best of all schools the company has engineered for. The RIHEA union wants higher MERV rating filters. This is even more dangerous to the students, faculty, & staff. Per ASHRAE, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers that provides guidelines on ventilation for the NJDOE The Road Back Plan “increasing filter efficiency leads to increased pressure drop which can lead to reduced air flow through the HVAC system, more energy use for the fan to compensate for the increased resistance, or both.”  
• Getting students back into school is important not only for academic learning, but mental health. The risk to social emotional learning & wellness is of paramount concern to parents. As noted in the CDC’s updated guidelines for reopening schools: “School officials should make decisions about school reopening based on available data including levels of community transmission...Schools should also consider other aspects of students’ risk and wellbeing that arise when schools do not reopen for in-person classes. This includes the potential adverse impacts on students’ social-emotional, behavioral, and mental health, as well as the critical services provided to students to help mitigate health disparities and serve children in need, such as school lunch programs, special education services, after-school programs and mental health services.”
• As noted in the CDC’s Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR): “During June 24–30, 2020, U.S. adults reported considerably elevated adverse mental health conditions associated with COVID-19. Younger adults...reported having experienced disproportionately worse mental health outcomes, increased substance use, and elevated suicidal ideation.” According to the National Alliance of Mental Illness, calls to the NAMI Helpline are up 65% this year. Class schedules and extracurricular activities provided stability.
• Student capacity has been reduced by at least 50% (need to factor in those who opt to remain 100% remote, so it will be less than 50%), so there are not as many students in the building. 
• The district purchased EPA-approved cleaner/sanitizer that has a ONE-MINUTE DWELL TIME. This means viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, are killed after one minute of contact between the cleaner and the surface. 
• Remote learning did not work well for all students. There were mixed reactions from parents about it, citing concerns about teachers not holding class, sharing inappropriate personal stories with students, an increased reliance on YouTube videos and other resources to replace direct teacher instruction, and more. Parents were very understanding and did not raise concerns because it was during what we now know to be the height of the pandemic. Parents have been given absolutely NO ASSURANCE that remote learning will be any different. Parents have not been shown what teachers have done to improve or perfect online education.
• Union members said they need professional development to use technology to become more effective online teachers, and the district thankfully is providing this. What about the students? Why is it assumed that effective online teaching means effective online LEARNING? Children have never taken coursework or professional development in how to be online learners, yet they were thrown into becoming them this spring with no preparation, which we all understand as we understood teachers and administrators were thrown into a new environment to perform their work. Now we are at the start of the school year, and students STILL have not been provided any opportunities to learn how to be online learners. They know how to be learners in classrooms. Completely taking away the opportunity to be in the environment they know best is to disadvantage them and hinder their educational progress. 
• The Association of American Pediatrics, along with many professional medical and psychological organizations, has warned about the negative effects of too much screen time for years. We are now telling students they need to use a computer for at least SEVEN HOURS daily for classes, PLUS time for homework/out-of-classroom projects & assignments. The AAP states that teens “should walk away from the screen for at least 10 minutes every hour.” How can they do this if they go from one class to another throughout the day, five days per week?  Eye fatigue, blurry vision, dry eyes, headaches are some of the effects students reported after five-day per week online class during the spring. 

For parents, children are the most important people in their lives. If parents are comfortable sending their most prized possession into school, that means they are very confident in the scientific data and the district plan. Teachers, staff, and administrators know and have said there is no replacement for in-person learning. Rather than state "it isn't safe" without even defining what safe means, everyone must collaborate instead of compete to ensure everything is in place to open on September 8. The district secured 100,000 face coverings, 800 face shields, 3,000 plexiglass desk partitions, and drums of EPA-approved 1-minute dwell time sanitizer, additional ventilation checks, among other efforts, going beyond what is the bare minimum.

We understand that there might be some challenges with the plan and that, with modifications, it can be even stronger. We also completely support faculty & staff taking leave for their own health precautions and family needs. We also completely support decreasing any risk by moving toward a minimum day, eliminating lunch, which will assuage many of the concerns that teachers, staff, and parents have. We need this to be done for September 8. We are unfortunately not confident that a delayed opening will not lead to another delayed opening and eventually to not opening this year or even in 2021 for any number of new reasons, based on recent actions & statements of RIH community members. 

Ramapo Indian Hills district has an excellent reputation. People move into the FLOW community because of our schools. The RIH students are leaders in the classrooms, on the field, on the stage, and everywhere students represent their school. Based on all available information provided by the RIH district, the State of New Jersey, professional organizations such as the American Association of Pediatrics, the Center for Disease Control, the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration & Air-Conditioning Engineers, the New Jersey Department of Health, the Communicable Diseases Service, the New Jersey State Department of Education, and the Harvard Global Health Institute, the RIH district must offer the hybrid plan beginning September 8. It is unacceptable to offer anything otherwise. ​The RIH district and RIH Board of Education cannot discount or ignore what over 80% of the parents who responded to the survey want.

Let's put the minds of students at ease; allow parents, teachers, and staff to confirm the details of their schedules; and collectively make a promise as a community to uphold the safety measures that mitigate the transmission of this virus. ​