Status: Closed — this petition is no longer accepting signatures.
Final supporters
To: President Robert Zimmer
Provost Ka Yee Lee
Vice Provost Daniel Abebe
Director David Magill
Board Chair David Kistenbroker
Faculty Association Head James Catlett
We are a group of Lab parents writing to request an immediate return to in-person learning for all Laboratory School students and transparent communication of a firm plan for the return of in-person instruction in the fall of 2021.
The dropping rates of COVID-19 prevalence in Illinois, Chicago, and Hyde Park; the vaccination of Lab teachers with a vaccine that is 95% effective; and the success of Lab’s N-2 program all suggest that reopening is relatively safe, even at 5 feet distance. For many of us, remaining remote represents the greater danger at this point.
The pandemic required unprecedented measures, and remote learning may have initially been the safe course. But, one year in, remote learning has become a crisis for the academic, social, and emotional wellbeing of our children. This crisis was exacerbated by the devastating and bewildering last-minute decision to cancel plans to return to full-time, in-person classes for grades 3-5--plans that 85% of families had agreed to enter.
This abrupt decision was a gross abdication of the trust and responsibility that parents have placed in Lab to provide a high-quality education for our children and to prioritize their social and emotional wellbeing.
Perhaps most frustrating of all, is the lack of transparent communication behind these decisions. Parents have no idea who is determining Lab programs and on what basis these decisions are being made.
We demand:
- Immediate return to in-person learning:
- Return grades 3-5 to full-time, in-person learning, beginning March 1, 2021.
- Improve current hybrid plans for grades 6-12--with input from teachers and families--to allow students to come to campus more frequently, beginning March 29, 2021.
- Commitment to full-time, in-person learning for all grades, beginning fall 2021.
- Improved transparency in communication:
- Hold a forum, no later than February 26, 2021, with Lab and University representatives responsible for decision making present. ALL parent questions must be addressed, and those questions must be visible to all attendees.
- Create, by March 1, 2021, a method to disseminate to parents public documents related to the Faculty Association’s negotiations, filings, and other actions.
- Commit to forming, in the 2021-2022 school year, a true PTSA where parents, teachers, students, and administration make decisions together. Solicit parent volunteers to help establish the new association by July 1, 2021.
We, the undersigned, ask you to treat this crisis with gravity and with a focused determination to repair the trust badly damaged during this school year. A pandemic is a horrible force of nature; we cannot allow this tragedy to be further compounded with inaction, apathy, and misguided risk-aversion. We implore Lab to act now.
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Updates
February 26, 2021
Seeing 500 names on this petition is overwhelming because it proves I am not alone in watching my children struggle through this screen. Knowing so many families feel this same frustration gives me hope that we can finally get our kids back into their classrooms.
February 25, 2021
Seeing one hundred people put their names behind this request reinforces how many of us are watching our children struggle behind these screens. I am grateful to everyone who has stepped up to help me push for the classroom environment our kids deserve.
Reached 500 supporters
February 23, 2021
February 23, 2021
Watching my own child struggle through another day behind a screen makes this fight feel more urgent than ever. I have been reading the heartbreaking stories you all are sharing in the comments and it reminds me that we are not alone in this frustration.
Reached 100 supporters
February 22, 2021
54 Comments
Provost: the mission of UCLS is to educate faculty children. If it has been hijacked by parties with other priorities, then shut it down and start anew with admin and teachers who are dedicated to accomplishing that mission. Many other schools are doing so on smaller budgets and with less real estate.
Lab's handling of the pandemic has been catastrophic and severely detrimental to its students' mental health. We need to return to in-person instruction now. I thought Lab was committed to creative problem-solving!
I echo all of this, particularly the request for transparency around the Faculty Association. If it is a major factor in decisions, the parents should at least have more of an understanding on how. If there are legal restrictions on what can be shared, please just tell us that. If there are not, then much more should be shared than has to date.
I would like to see this University make in person school a priority, especially for the lower school. If six feet is mandatory than other University spaces should be used immediately. The University has ample resources and spaces to achieve in person education.
I am most concerned about not having a better understanding of teachers' concerns and how these are affecting - if at all - decision making. I also (as a working mom) am extremely upset about the lack of advance planning and short -term changes that affect my ability to care for my children.
It is too dangerous to return our kids to school. I've been working in hospitals and seeing the seriousness of the coronavirus COVID-19 and I also see the mutated strains spreading. The parents on this petition are idiots.
No more masks for children please. Unforeseen psychological damage to kids wearing masks in school.
Share Petition
Don't stop at signing, share the petition link with friends to multiply our impact
Copy link or share directly
Status: Closed — this petition is no longer accepting signatures.
Final supporters
To: President Robert Zimmer
Provost Ka Yee Lee
Vice Provost Daniel Abebe
Director David Magill
Board Chair David Kistenbroker
Faculty Association Head James Catlett
We are a group of Lab parents writing to request an immediate return to in-person learning for all Laboratory School students and transparent communication of a firm plan for the return of in-person instruction in the fall of 2021.
The dropping rates of COVID-19 prevalence in Illinois, Chicago, and Hyde Park; the vaccination of Lab teachers with a vaccine that is 95% effective; and the success of Lab’s N-2 program all suggest that reopening is relatively safe, even at 5 feet distance. For many of us, remaining remote represents the greater danger at this point.
The pandemic required unprecedented measures, and remote learning may have initially been the safe course. But, one year in, remote learning has become a crisis for the academic, social, and emotional wellbeing of our children. This crisis was exacerbated by the devastating and bewildering last-minute decision to cancel plans to return to full-time, in-person classes for grades 3-5--plans that 85% of families had agreed to enter.
This abrupt decision was a gross abdication of the trust and responsibility that parents have placed in Lab to provide a high-quality education for our children and to prioritize their social and emotional wellbeing.
Perhaps most frustrating of all, is the lack of transparent communication behind these decisions. Parents have no idea who is determining Lab programs and on what basis these decisions are being made.
We demand:
- Immediate return to in-person learning:
- Return grades 3-5 to full-time, in-person learning, beginning March 1, 2021.
- Improve current hybrid plans for grades 6-12--with input from teachers and families--to allow students to come to campus more frequently, beginning March 29, 2021.
- Commitment to full-time, in-person learning for all grades, beginning fall 2021.
- Improved transparency in communication:
- Hold a forum, no later than February 26, 2021, with Lab and University representatives responsible for decision making present. ALL parent questions must be addressed, and those questions must be visible to all attendees.
- Create, by March 1, 2021, a method to disseminate to parents public documents related to the Faculty Association’s negotiations, filings, and other actions.
- Commit to forming, in the 2021-2022 school year, a true PTSA where parents, teachers, students, and administration make decisions together. Solicit parent volunteers to help establish the new association by July 1, 2021.
We, the undersigned, ask you to treat this crisis with gravity and with a focused determination to repair the trust badly damaged during this school year. A pandemic is a horrible force of nature; we cannot allow this tragedy to be further compounded with inaction, apathy, and misguided risk-aversion. We implore Lab to act now.
Updates
February 26, 2021
Seeing 500 names on this petition is overwhelming because it proves I am not alone in watching my children struggle through this screen. Knowing so many families feel this same frustration gives me hope that we can finally get our kids back into their classrooms.
February 25, 2021
Seeing one hundred people put their names behind this request reinforces how many of us are watching our children struggle behind these screens. I am grateful to everyone who has stepped up to help me push for the classroom environment our kids deserve.
Reached 500 supporters
February 23, 2021
February 23, 2021
Watching my own child struggle through another day behind a screen makes this fight feel more urgent than ever. I have been reading the heartbreaking stories you all are sharing in the comments and it reminds me that we are not alone in this frustration.
Reached 100 supporters
February 22, 2021
54 Comments
For the first time since we joined the Lab community 8 years ago, we are questioning who Lab serves. We expect Lab to to be a national leader, yet the majority of schools are much further ahead in getting kids back to school. The kids are suffering unfairly. It is time to bring them back to school. The science is clear that schools are safe for students and teachers.
Provost: the mission of UCLS is to educate faculty children. If it has been hijacked by parties with other priorities, then shut it down and start anew with admin and teachers who are dedicated to accomplishing that mission. Many other schools are doing so on smaller budgets and with less real estate.
Lab's handling of the pandemic has been catastrophic and severely detrimental to its students' mental health. We need to return to in-person instruction now. I thought Lab was committed to creative problem-solving!
I echo all of this, particularly the request for transparency around the Faculty Association. If it is a major factor in decisions, the parents should at least have more of an understanding on how. If there are legal restrictions on what can be shared, please just tell us that. If there are not, then much more should be shared than has to date.
I would like to see this University make in person school a priority, especially for the lower school. If six feet is mandatory than other University spaces should be used immediately. The University has ample resources and spaces to achieve in person education.
I am most concerned about not having a better understanding of teachers' concerns and how these are affecting - if at all - decision making. I also (as a working mom) am extremely upset about the lack of advance planning and short -term changes that affect my ability to care for my children.
It is too dangerous to return our kids to school. I've been working in hospitals and seeing the seriousness of the coronavirus COVID-19 and I also see the mutated strains spreading. The parents on this petition are idiots.
No more masks for children please. Unforeseen psychological damage to kids wearing masks in school.
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For the first time since we joined the Lab community 8 years ago, we are questioning who Lab serves. We expect Lab to to be a national leader, yet the majority of schools are much further ahead in getting kids back to school. The kids are suffering unfairly. It is time to bring them back to school. The science is clear that schools are safe for students and teachers.