We, the parents of the Takoma Academy Preparatory School, have created this petition to express our grievances with the return of in-school instruction on January 18, 2022. This is being done in hopes that, 1) the administration and school board can witness the expressed solidarity of families who share the same concerns with re-entrance into the building, and, 2) galvanize the powers that be into effective action that addresses our concerns.

We maintain the belief that it is in the best interest of our children to extend virtual learning instruction until the surge of the Omicron variant has subsided. We also feel strongly that returning to school on Tuesday, January 18th is an act of negligence that places our children at unnecessary risk for further spread and transmission. Not only do we risk compromising the health and safety of our children, we are then left to weather the recovery phase - and the many inconveniences it encompasses - alone.

Upon conversing amongst ourselves, it has become apparent that many of us fall into one or more of the following categories,

• Have a child or relative with an autoimmune disease
• Have a child or relative in the home with a compromised immune system
• Have multiple children enrolled at TAPS or Takoma Academy
• Have had personal encounters with COVID by way of direct transmission, exposure, or loss of a loved one due to COVID during the holiday season

While the vaccination has proven to be effective, at least in the area of symptom mitigation, it has been unsuccessful in staving off the spread of the virus, especially with the ongoing surge of the delta variant. Given that we have successfully implemented virtual instruction for nearly two years, we find no reason why this method of instruction cannot be mobilized any longer. In consideration of the above-referenced concerns, we are requesting that virtual instruction be extended until there is a substantial and consistent decline in COVID transmission rates. At the very least, we request to be given the option to return to in-person instruction or remain virtual for the time being.

We thank you in advance for hearing our concerns and prayerfully giving this the due consideration it deserves. Thank you as always for your tireless efforts. We hope we can reach a viable solution soon.

Sincerely,

TAPS Families