Mr. Chamberlin and Board Members,

Fully Re-Open our Schools Now!

The Parents of Hopkinton would like to thank you for your efforts in attempting to deal with the many serious issues surrounding the pandemic as they relate to the Hopkinton schools. At this point, getting our children back in school full-time is the number one priority for the parents of our school system.  Our schools were shut down throughout the Spring of 2020 and then transitioned to hybrid/remote learning since that time. After a year of our children suffering both academically and emotionally, it is now time to change course.

With this petition we ask that the Board change its present policy and permit in-person learning for all students five days a week beginning no later than April 12, 2021. The Board’s first and greatest concern must be the educational welfare of the students attending the Hopkinton public schools. Each Board Member swore an oath to ensure that students within the Hopkinton School District received their constitutional entitlement to an adequate education. That entails opening up the buildings to provide a safe environment for mental, social, and emotional development. It is incumbent upon elected officials to ensure that this happens.

According to the worldwide numbers (including the CDC), Covid-19 poses virtually zero risk of serious illness to anyone under the age of 24. The science overwhelmingly suggests that young children are not driving transmission of COVID-19, and schools can be safe places for staff and students of all ages, even with spread in the greater community. This is particularly true with simple, low-tech precautions—for example, masking, trifold desks shield, face shields, limiting close contact, cohorts, and opening windows for ventilation. If teachers are concerned about their own health, they are being offered the vaccine by the State of New Hampshire.

Many local public and private schools, following CDC and state guidelines, have been running for months without major issue. Henniker is a great example of a local school system that has been operating this school year with in-person teaching with very low community transmission rates.   Even when cases do occur, the testing, tracing and quarantining process used in other districts has been proven sufficient in limiting in-school spread.

To ignore all of this evidence is to further children and families’ suffering with no rational justification.

Neither the CDC nor the State of New Hampshire mandate the precautions adopted by the Board. In fact, the Board has implemented protocols that deprive our children of a constitutionally adequate education while causing serious psychological harm. We struggle to understand why the Board has taken such an extreme route. Many schools across NH, and the rest of the country, have returned to 100% capacity while following reasonable guidelines and without incident.

While we sympathize with fears of the unknown, we do not want to be driven by fear when making such important decisions. The CDC’s statistics show that 99.97% of individuals from the age of 0-20 have full recovery from Covid-19.  Many of us can no longer afford to delay this return to school any further and will be forced to make difficult choices for the coming year. We must do our best to make special accommodations for staff and continue to offer a virtual option, but we cannot ignore the majority of children in our community who need in-person education now.

“It is critical for schools to open as safely and as soon as possible, and remain open, to achieve the benefits of in-person learning and key support services”. (CDC Executive Summary, 2021)

Please push forward, follow the science, and prioritize public education and a safe reopening. We formally petition the Board to change its present policy and permit full in-person learning five days a week for all students who want it beginning no later than April 12, 2021.

Thank you,

Parents of Hopkinton 

Please only sign this Petition if you are a Resident of Hopkinton, Parent of a Hopkinton student, A Staff Member of the Hopkinton School District, or a Taxpayer in Hopkinton, NH.

Articles and resources:

• WHO's Checklist to support schools re-opening and preparation for COVID-19 resurgences.
• Kids, school, and COVID-19: What we know — and what we don’t
• Three studies highlight low COVID risk of in-person school
• Study: In-school transmission of SARS-CoV-2 rare in schools implementing safety measures
• Exclusive: Kids catch and spread coronavirus half as much as adults, Iceland study confirms
• With masks on, three feet is just as safe as six feet apart in Massachusetts schools