October 15, 2020

Dear Grand Ledge School Board Members,

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

On August 3, 2020, the Grand Ledge School District Board of Education voted to implement on-line learning for all students through December 4, 2020, at which point, the Board committed to re-evaluate the virtual learning agenda and begin plans to bring the children back to the classroom. Now is the time.

In the past few weeks, movie theaters, bowling alleys, trampoline parks, indoor climbing gyms and other businesses have re-opened, with social distancing expectations. School districts across the state, throughout our region and around Grand Ledge have re-opened with appropriate precautions and clear expectations. According to the state of Michigan’s web site there is a total of 346 Covid-19 cases of students K-12. Of those cases, there are 11 in Ingham county schools. Eaton, Ionia, and Clinton county all have zero cases. It is time for Grand Ledge public schools to re-open their doors.

The on-line mode of instruction is robbing our children of effective learning and vital social interactions with their peers. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, “…children get more than academics at school. They also learn social and emotional skills at school, get healthy meals and exercise, mental health support and other services that cannot be easily replicated online.” 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. Moreover, the risk to our children’s mental health due to their continued isolation will most certainly be measurable. Lastly, on-line learning is not as productive as in person learning.

Our neighboring districts have returned to face-to-face classes. Coupled with the low Covid-19 numbers in the Grand Ledge area, it is time to return our students to their schools and classrooms. The following are the expectations of parents and taxpayers in the Grand Ledge Public School District:

• Full time, 5 days per week, face-to-face learning implemented by December 7, 2020; not a hybrid model
• Provide a 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 – they are the backbone that makes Grand Ledge schools thrive. We know the teachers miss our kids and our kids miss them! Let’s get our children back to class. Thank you!