This petition is to address the need of public schools in Provo City School District to be open 5 days a week for traditional in person learning.

We must not limit the opportunities our children have through education. The effects of not being in school are well researched and the consequences are far reaching.

We can’t set a precedent to shut down schools for an illness that in our state has a recovery rate of 99.2%. The parents now have the choice for distance learning if they feel the risk is too big. Let us support one another in that choice of distance and traditional learning. Let us assess the risk and do what we feel is right for our children and not take away that right for others.

Elementary aged children are the lowest risk demographic for Covid-19 and they are “rarely if ever” spreading the disease yet we are asking them to shoulder the burden of lockdown by sacrificing their education.

Nobody should be forced to work and no one should be forced to attend school that doesn’t feel safe and children shouldn’t be forced to sacrifice their education and mental health. We are living in a pandemic where sacrifice is necessary and it has always been noble to make sacrifices for the younger generation.

We would like to petition the board to:

1. Provide an option for students to have in-class instruction 5 days a week, prioritizing K-6th graders, as they are the most vulnerable learners and the least vulnerable demographic for COVID-19.

2. Conduct another simple parent and teacher survey that simply asks whether they want an option for 5 days a week.

3. Publish objective, specific and feasible benchmarks for moving to Phase 2 and Phase 3 that the community can rely on and work toward.

4. Petition the state for more realistic COVID-19 stipulations for keeping schools open and children in the classroom.

If you share our concerns please sign this petition.

Sincerely,

Fellow PSD Parents