This is a petition to protect the health, safety, and wellbeing of the students, teachers, and community of the Salt Lake City School District. 

Help the concerned student body convince the District Board to continue the online curriculum through the 2020 - 2021 school year and delay scheduled in-person classes. The proposed in-person schedule should be delayed until there is an available and accessible vaccine, or Covid-19 cases drop to below a 5% increase; Utah is currently at 7%, according to the Utah Department of Health. As it stands the school district’s proposed plans of in-person classes will move into effect once Salt Lake City is deemed to be in the yellow zone. Although the District plan staggers the teacher and student body, the CDC reports this as a much greater risk than studying remotely. The highest risk for transmitting Covid-19 is to have fully in-person classes, which is what many students and parents have pushed for. 

Returning to school with a full in-person schedule not only puts the students and teachers at risk, but also their families and other immune-compromised communities of Salt Lake City. It is a huge concern that students would be in close proximity throughout the day, especially during lunch when masks can not be worn. Even with the best efforts put towards sanitizing schools, janitors and teachers would be overworked and understaffed due to the size of the facilities. About 94% of public school teachers are already forced to spend their own money on classroom supplies, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, that percentage could increase with the growing need for classroom sanitary products. Not only would teachers have to spend their own money, but it would disproportionately affect the high schools of the district with a greater BIPOC population. These high schools' budgets are affected by their local economy which is now additionally devastated due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Families in Salt Lake that can not afford school supplies for online learning have been given access to laptops, chargers, and internet hubs administered by the school. Those who rely on free/reduced lunch provided by the SLCSD were also provided for throughout the end of the 2019-2020 school year as the pandemic brought in-person classes to a halt in early March 2020. This indicated to the community that these services are available and capable of continuing as necessary. Public school teachers in the SLCSD are now being expected to take on a myriad of responsibilities and positions to ensure the safety of themselves and their students. Forcing the educators of our students to remain underpaid, overworked, and exposed to hundreds of families during a pandemic is unacceptable. We should advocate for their support and protection. 

With the best interest of public health and safety in mind this would be the template for future education