It is time for change! Your organizations have had almost twelve months to develop a plan to successfully reopen our local schools, yet our children remain at home. School districts, both locally and around the country, have been open for most of the year and without widespread COVID outbreaks and without vaccinations. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has reviewed data about safely reopening schools and has recommended moving forward with in-person learning with appropriate safety measures. While there are current state government restrictions limiting return to in-person learning, this will likely not be the case for the 2021-2022 school year. As parents, we have heard multiple plans about reopening without any meaningful changes for our children. It is time for SDUSD and SDEA to be truthful and transparent about their intentions to reopen neighborhood schools and make a firm commitment to its families. COVID-19 will be with our communities for the upcoming years and we can no longer wait for consequential actions to be taken.

If the school district and teachers cannot commit to reopening full time (5 days a week), in-person learning for the 2021-2022 school year irrespective of our COVID restriction tier, we as parents plan to make a very difficult choice. We will be removing our children from the public education system, either by enrolling in private education, homeschool, or whatever other means necessary to give our children in-person learning. As parents, we must do what is best for our children, and we can no longer watch as they struggle with social isolation and experience the learning loss due to distance education. 

This is a letter of intent, not a negotiation. If the district does not commit to full-time (5 days a week), in-person learning for the 2021-2022 school year regardless of our COVID tier by March 1st, many parents will be forced to leave the district and will likely not return. We make this choice with heavy hearts. But we can no longer in good faith keep our children in an education system that cannot provide the basic education needed for our children to grow and thrive. 

--Christin Bawa and Lauren Halsted Burroughs