Dear Bloomfield Hills School Board Members,

The purpose of this petition is to send our children to school utilizing the traditional classroom setting, on a full-time basis.

On August 20, 2020, the Bloomfield Hills Board of Education voted to implement a hybrid phase in-plan for in-person part time teaching. Anything less than full time, 5 days a week in-person instruction is a disservice for all students, especially for students with disabilities, who have a legal right to a Free Appropriate Public Education, guaranteed by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.

“Children miss out on essential academic and social–emotional learning, formative relationships with peers and adults, opportunities for play, and other developmental necessities when they are kept at home. Children living in poverty, children of color, English language learners, children with diagnosed disabilities, and young children face especially severe losses. Until these children physically return to school full time, many will lose out on essential educational, social, and developmental benefits; neither the economy nor the health care system will be able to return to full strength given parents’ caretaking responsibilities and profound racial and socioeconomic injustices will be further exacerbated.” (https://ethics.harvard.edu/files/center-for-ethics/files/20schoolsduringpandemic2.pdf [ethics.harvard.edu])

On October 9th, movie theaters and cinemas, bowling alleys, indoor climbing gyms, trampoline parks, arcades, bingo halls and performance venues will re-open. This is great news and reflects the steady decline of Michigan’s Covid-19 cases. Now it is time for our schools!

Additionally, Michigan has recently approved student’s participation in sports and other extra-curricular activities that had previously been banned in response to Covid-19. Therefore, the message currently being sent to our children is that extra-curricular activities and sports are more important than in-person learning.
Lastly, on-line learning is not as productive as in person learning. Considering that neighboring public and private have returned or plan to return to full time in person instruction coupled with the low Covid-19 numbers in the BHSD, it is time to return our students to their schools and classrooms full time. The following are the expectations of parents and tax payers in the Bloomfield Hills School District:
· Full time, 5 days per week, face-to-face learning implemented by November 2, 2020; not a hybrid model
· Provide the Bloomfield Virtual option for parents that choose to continue virtual learning
· Provide weekly updates from the Superintendent’s office or Board of Education regarding the timing and implementation of the face to face plan, including dates certain for each occurrence
· Conduct and consider parent survey responses regarding changes to student learning plans

We respect and thank our teachers and staff for all they have done to educate our children during this unprecedented time.

Thank you!