Complete school closure in an effort to contain the spread of Covid-19 is a blunt instrument that fails to consider the collateral damage inflicted upon the youngest members of our society. Public schools are an essential pillar of our community that serve students and parents far beyond what is capable in a virtual delivery model. The constitution of Washington State appropriately identifies the education of our children as the “paramount duty” of our government, yet our schools remain closed to in-person learning.

Our Students are suffering from isolation, depression, and anxiety. The safety net for children who are abused and neglected is gone, and the damage from this reality will echo within our society for years to come. We are moving in on a full and complete year in which our youngest students remain in an arrested state of emotional, social, and physical development that only in-person learning can provide.   A recent CDC study estimates that half of our teenagers are experiencing a depressive disorder and a quarter have suicidal thoughts. Long after our state leaders have put away their awards for “flattening the curve” and “saving lives,” our young people will live with the consequences of lost opportunities that can never be recovered.

The WA State Superintendent of Schools, the Center for Disease Control, and the American Association of Pediatrics have set guidelines and recommendations for schools to reopen. Despite all of this, there remains an irrational and unfounded argument by some in our community to keep schools closed indefinitely or delay opening until it is deemed “safe.” Groups taking this ideological high ground in the name of “safety” place our leaders in the untenable situation of choosing what’s right for our students.

We, the undersigned parents of the Tahoma School District, wish to express our enthusiastic support for our district leaders to initiate an expedited process of safely reopening our schools for students at all levels.  We believe that Tahoma kids do, indeed, come first and that our community must find a way to provide live resources to them. We implore our leaders to see past the vocal minority and do what is right.  Open our schools, at all levels, for all of our students.