Since the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year, Avonworth High School has functioned well under multiple hybrid instructional models. Though there have already been multiple changes to the instructional options for this year, all have been somewhat successful in the students’ ability to adapt and effectively learn in them. However, the newest change has already created a great amount of distress and anger among the students at Avonworth. By keeping Wednesdays asynchronous, students have the time to catch up on work, get extra help from teachers, and participate in extracurricular activities. Asynchronous Wednesdays have been in effect all school year, so there should be no prevalent issue in finishing the year with them in place. While the School Board’s decision may have good intentions, most students can agree that we are not interested in their proposal. We believe that we have a say in the instructional model of these last 9 weeks, and our voices were not properly represented in the meeting on April 5th, 2021. Out of every student who spoke at the meeting, not a single one stated that they were interested in the plan that was ultimately passed by the Board. Biased parents who unjustly spoke on behalf of larger neighborhoods seemed to have more weight in the argument than those of us who are directly affected by educational models.

To Mr. John Brandt and Mrs. Sandra Bolain, thank you for advocating for the student body, we genuinely appreciate your consideration of our opinions on returning five days. To Mrs. Kristen Thompson, Mrs. Kathryn Monti, Mr. Patrick Stewart, Mrs. Yu-Ling Cheng Behr, Mrs. Vicki Carlson, Mr. Beau Blaser, and Mrs. Danielle White, please reconsider your decision. Your vote does not accurately reflect the thoughts of a good portion of Avonworth’s student population. We urge you to return the student body to the current model of 4 days in-person, with Wednesdays asynchronous.