1 James Corey What is the plan to bring students back this Fall? We have a kid that is struggling. We are blessed to be home, to be able to help but he loved school, now it is a burden. What about the kids in abusive homes? What about the children whose parents have to work all day and now tv is their daycare? The gap is going to get worse. So what is the plan for the fall? For the special needs students.
As we sit in Ann Arbor with ZERO children in Michigan Medicine with covid. What is the plan? Is one case of Covid in our schools worth the gap that is being created? Ten cases worth it? Worth the abuse that isn't being reported by our wonderful teachers.
As I watch Youtube for my son's PE class, I wonder when are you ending this exercise of virtual school. You have made multiple attempts at virtual school and it did not work. It failed in the spring. You invested in new technology, you gave it your best effort sadly it failed again.
Failure happens, it was no one's intention, no one meant for this to be a poor experience. But it is. Not admitting it isn't working is the challenge...please spend this meeting ONLY on this issue...WHAT IS THE PLAN? 2 Jessica Cooper Successful virtual learning experiences are happening! My son is a first grader at Lakewood Elementary. Once the routines of the day started to set in and I adjusted my expectations of what it should “look like,” learning happened!
This was only possible because of the massive organization, patience, and structure that Mrs. Terry put into each day. Parents adjusted, teachers made countless adjustments, it’s time for the district to adjust as well. Please consider using Seesaw for the lower elementary learning platform. The program has been upgraded and includes a wide database of lessons and ideas within existing networks. We teach our children to reflect on their choices, consider how they affect others, and decide if their process was the most effective and efficient. Seesaw is the most effective and efficient platform for lower elementary student virtual learning. Let’s show our children that we reflect and adjust, just as we teach! 3 Laura Schram I am a UM employee and parent of two upper elementary-aged children in Ann Arbor. I have been tracking the AAPS school board updates as well as the UM weekly COVID-19 updates. From this past Friday's UM update, Dr. Robert Ernst mentioned a contract tracing study that the UM team conducted. He stated that the study showed there "hasn't been evidence of spread from the campus community or surrounding community into the non-student population." I do sincerely hope that the board is coordinating closely with the UM COVID-19 team. This kind of research can inform the board's decision about return to hybrid, reduced density, public-health informed in-person learning, particularly for vulnerable students, students with disabilities, and lower elementary students 4 Julia Madison- I am a pediatrician with two children in AAPS. Williams Virtual learning is not an effective method for children in K-8 to learn. We have been attempting this now for 4 weeks and children and parents are frustrated and upset. The education students are receiving online is well below expected for AAPS. In addition, my children are not engaged in meaningful personal interactions with their teachers or classmates.
Data from several studies show very limited if any transmission of the virus that causes COVID among students in school, especially in grades K through 8. AAPS continuing to withhold in person education for our students despite this data while children and parents are suffering is disappointing and unconscionable. Please consider transitioning to in person school immediately. 5 Jason Allgood Based on the statement made by the AAEA it is clear that their position is that the teachers will not be returning to in person classes this year. I would hazard a guess that this position had a lot do with the boards decision to go 100% Virtual and established metrics that you had to realize were not realistically achievable without a vaccine.
And I will say in advance that we appreciate the teachers concerns and have no interest in forcing any teacher to go back involuntarily. However, it’s difficult to believe that none of the teachers are willing to return. Based on the survey done earlier this year 50% of the teachers were willing to return and another 40% would consider it. That was early so opinions might have changed but again its hard to believe that no teachers are willing to return. This seems to be some misguided goal of solidarity. However we need to think of the kids.
It seems clear that what we need is an honest answer about how many teacher are willing to return to in person classes. And how many kids are interested in attending in person. Then we will understand if there is a shortage of teachers. That is when we as a community need to work together to be creative and find a way to support the kids. Something like the teacher on a video screen and volunteer parents in the classroom seem like a relatively easy solution.
What we cannot do is abandon our elementary age kids to virtual learning which is not effective and has many negative impacts that greatly outweigh the risk to the children. 6 Courtney Snyder- My name is Courtney Snyder-Ng. I am Associate Director of Bands and Ng Associate Professor of Conducting at the University of Michigan. I have been working in person on a daily basis with woodwind, brass, and percussion students since August 31st. We have applied strict safety and social-distancing measures. There has been no community spread of COVID among our students. Though I was very nervous at first, I feel safe and have remained healthy throughout this term. Additionally, based on the meeting last Friday with Pres. Schlissel and Mayor Taylor, there is NO evidence of community spread from students to townies. This being the case, it is time to prioritize our youngest students and get them safely back in the schools. We can do this safely if we follow the science. I implore you, let our youngest students back in the schools. 7 Joanna Spencer- I was disappointed to see the questions on the recent parent and student Segal survey, which seemed designed to pick out schools and teachers that are not doing a good job with online learning. What about a survey designed to understand the impact of virtual schooling on our community? For example: How many days of lost work did your family have due to virtual school? Has a parent had to exit or delay reentry to the workforce due to virtual schooling? Has your child been in group childcare outside of their home to complete their virtual school activities? What is your emotional state like? And your child’s? This would help the District and Board understand the full impact of their decisions.
While it is important to follow the local and regional COVID-19 case numbers, at this point cases are not likely to drop drastically. If we are serious about getting children back into classrooms, we need to make a plan to get back to school assuming rates of transmission as they currently are. Otherwise, please come clean to parents that this is unlikely.
Tonight, I hope to hear how the Board’s impression of local cases has been influenced by U-M’s assertion that the student cases are not likely to cross over into the community, as well as the accumulating national and international data on in-person K-12 schooling. 8 Avram Derrow I am a board-certified pediatrician and father of two children. We have enrolled our kids in real school this year, which AAPS was not offering. The well-being of my children is the most important thing in the world to me, and the well-being of all children is literally my life's work. Open the schools. The public health costs of school closure are so astronomical that, to be justified, they would need to play a major role in stopping viral transmission. In other words, if the claim is that school closures are saving lives, then there needs to be clear and ample evidence that this intervention has saved more lives than the status quo. That evidence has not been presented because it does not exist. Schools have opened around the world, around the country, and even around this county, with zero evidence that they are a significant contributor to local epidemics. Instead of clear justification for this immensely harmful intervention, we are given platitudes about safety, and nonsensical metrics that will be impossible to meet and sustain, the better to justify prolonged closure. Children are suffering. They regress and become isolated. Disadvantaged children become yet more disadvantaged. School is not risk free and has never been risk free, and yet we have collectively made education a priority from the earliest days of this republic until this year, when we are given the message from the board and the AAEA that school is now non-essential. This parent disagrees: School is essential! We have always learned in our daily lives to mitigate risk and put it in perspective, but this level of critical thinking is apparently no longer accessible to the people who are supposedly in charge of teaching our children to think critically.
To those who say that schools cannot open until we have 14 days with zero cases in Washtenaw County, consider that we have likely never gone 14 days with zero flu cases in this county, even with a vaccine! To those who say that schools cannot open until we have a vaccine, consider that vaccines are not made on a timetable, and it is exceedingly unlikely that a vaccine, even an effective one, will come along that will eradicate this disease. The measles vaccine was developed in the 1960’s, and measles was successfully (though temporarily) eradicated in this country… 40 years later. To those who would set either of those criteria for reopening schools, are you prepared to keep them closed forever if your demands are not met? The criteria the board has set, with two separate per capita metrics which nobody on the board can explain, seem designed only to give us more chances to fail. If the goal is to stay closed all year and forevermore, mission accomplished.
When we closed schools in the spring as the virus was bearing down on us, it was unfortunate and unavoidable; we had no choice. Seven months later, after everything we‚Äôve learned, keeping them closed IS a choice, and a shameful one. You ‚ Dr. Swift, the Board of Education, and the AAEA ‚ are failing our children. Open the schools. 9 Jason Bibby I have two children experiencing little to virtually (no pun intended) school learning since March 2020. We have always put our children first but realize that the school board members, each of you‚Ķthe administrative leadership led by Dr. Swift, and the teachers union. All of you represent a united front that support using COVID politics as your cope out from your mission statement which includes; Developing academic excellence (my kids make breakfast longer than your morning classes); Secondly, also omitted from your mission statement is the celebration of equity. Really? Do you include childrens mental health part of equity? Please belief from a certified planner that we parents are astounded by the lack of public engagement during your planning process with the most important stakeholder that drives your mission (our kids). I hope as momentum builds daily from U of M advocates, professional doctors, professional social workers‚Ķ.who all say that essentially or generally speaking that you are a catalyst of what my children are being negatively impacted beyond normal stresses of a pandemic. 10 Betty Hill I'm a retired 30-year teacher and grandparent to a 6 year old doing online learning through AAPS. I+F20ve seen the negative effects it has on him. Anyone who is knowledgeable of young children would know it‚Äôs not physically or mentally appropriate for them to sit for 6 hours front of a screen. As an educator, I‚Äôm bewildered that so many other educators refuse to see this. Evidently you have not sat with a 6 year old online 6 hours a day 4 days a week. It‚Äôs doing more harm than good.
Some might say to me, “You are retired and can stay home.” If I were still teaching I WOULD go into the classroom. How could I not? My daughter is a health professional who has gone into clinic since this began. I go to grocery stores and depend on workers to stock shelves and check me out. My life as a teacher is not more valuable than theirs. 11 Kai Cortina I am a Professor of Psychology and Education at the University of Michigan, and I specialize in the study of adolescent development and schooling. I also have two teenagers in Ann Arbor Public Schools. Recent Public Commentary has focused understandably on kindergarten and elementary school, but let me emphasize that middle and high school kids are struggling with online- education as well. There was great hope that technology might solve the problem of schooling in the Age of COVID. But the reality is: Crashing platforms, frustrated teachers, and disengaged students. In front of our eyes, educational quality has taken a nose-dive in Ann Arbor. Kids and teachers are missing the face-to-face instruction that is the cornerstone of a good education. You thought that digital technology could help you "reimagine" education in Ann Arbor, but instead it's destroying it. How much learning does the community have to lose before you realize that fully virtual schooling is not a long-term solution? Many European countries have come to realize that the virus spread can be controlled very effectively in schools with proper and simple safety measures. We can and should start reopening Ann Arbor's public schools.
12 Stephanie McCarty I am writing this letter to you from my bedroom, where I am listening to my five year old son hysterically cry, hit and throw in the room next to mine. Right now he should be sitting up straight at his desk and following directions from his teacher through the screen of his ipad. This is not an uncommon occurrence in our house since the start of the virtual school year. Until September 2020, he was attending in person school. When COVID hit in March, his school took two months off; this is where he first started exhibiting this behavior. My son became angry, defiant, and exhibited behaviors I have not seen from him before. When his school opened back up in June, he became himself again. He was happy, social, eager to learn, following directions (most of the time), and thriving.
I am writing you this letter because my son is regressing back to where he was in March when in person school was not available. His mental health is at stake. He needs a structured environment that a two parent working family simply cannot give a 5 year old child. Our superintendent made it clear a few weeks ago that Y5 and Kindergarten are not mandatory and we can drop out if we do not like it. I do not accept that, my son wants and needs an education. We need to provide the option and opportunity for children and families, who are in-need, to attend in person school. I look on Facebook and see my friends from around the state sending their children back to school this week with various mitigation efforts. How can Ann Arbor not pull it together? This is supposed to be one of the best school systems in the state, it is why we bought a house in the Haisley district.
Families are counting on you, we are counting on you. We are begging you to start focusing on lower-risk mitigation efforts to bring our children back. I cannot watch my child fall behind and suffer long term social, emotional, mental set back any longer. 13 Paul Fowler I have decided to withdraw my comments 14 Amy Mayer Please reconsider the strict requirements for returning AAPS schools to in- person. Online learning is very hard for everyone -- students, teachers, and parents. Surrounding public schools and private schools have been teaching in-person for over a month now and there have not been any outbreaks. More and more kids leave my son's public school for private school every week. If I can find one that still has openings I would switch him as well. Virtual learning is undermining his confidence in himself as a learner and is making him hate school. Children can wear masks, teachers can wear PPE. Even 2 days a week in-person with 2 days remote would be better than this. If you have been preparing buildings for in-person as you say you have, this should be easy to implement quickly. This decision by AAPS is undermining trust in the school district and doing long-term damage to our children and our public schools. 15 Lilia Cortina Trustees and staff: for those of you looking down at devices right now, I ask that you look up and listen. Parents are sharing stories of pain. Of drowning. Of lost learning as their children sit all day staring silently at screens. The least you can do is look up and listen.
As a Latina parent, I also ask that you look closely at what’s happening with equity in this school district. When you let unreasonable metrics stand in the way of face-to-face instruction, you feed the achievement gap. The most harmed are Ann Arbor’s black and brown families, low-income families, and families of special needs children. When you keep kids away from the human contact that some so desperately need, you fuel psychological disease. You leave many, many children behind. Do you want this to be your legacy? I know some of you on the Board deeply value equity. I hope you will put your values into action, and insist that the District start moving in the direction of a safe return to in-person learning.
And at the very least, I hope you will look up and listen. 16 Leah Clark I am a mother of two AAPS students and a public school special educator. I am in my 16th year of teaching, I teach in Livonia Public schools, a district with over 14,000 students. We are full-time face-to-face with all students five days a week. I have to tell you though how incredibly reluctant I was to return to school. I was sick to my stomach for weeks, cried several times, and was extremely fearful to return. But now that I have been back and see what we’ve done, I’m so happy we are face to face and see what a difference we are making while doing it safely. I am asking you to hear me, not only as a mother, or a teacher, but one that is living both lives and experiencing success at returning to learn face-to-face. Now I’m faced with my own children’s emotional well being, my own children who are struggling. I’m having a difficult time trying to be in both of these roles when I know what can be possible. I teach in a school that has been in person for over a month, our school has roughly 150 students 18 to 26 years of age with disabilities from 11 different Wayne County districts. This population has the most difficulty with safety protocol, yet we are successfully a month in and accessing our community job sites without a single Covid case. They are wearing masks, sanitizing hands regularly, and keeping social distance throughout the day. I have been a part of the return to learn committee for LPS and in charge of many school planning elements, we have worked very hard to get our schools to a place that creates a safe and emotionally nourishing environment for students three years to 26 years. AAPS I know that you can make the step towards a safe return face-to-face. Please feel free to contact me, I’d love to help with a successful return to learn plan or any other information you think I can be helpful with. 17 Colleen Klus I have children in elementary, middle and high school at AAPS. Virtual school with three kids in three different schools has been challenging, but I commend the effort that has been put forth by the administration and the teachers in making the process as smooth as possible. I have been inspired by teachers who are complete rock stars in the classroom- managing technology with 8 year olds who keep unmuting and middle school students who won’t turn their cameras on. They are dealing with all of this and still delivering a great education to my children and many children at AAPS. For this, I applaud you.
Unfortunately, I realize this is not the experience for all children at AAPS. It has come to my attention that children who receive special education services are not participating in the peer to peer program that I was able to see run so successfully at Haisley elementary. Taking away the peer to peer program is unacceptable for all students involved. I watched this program become a favorite part of my own children’s and many other children’s days during face to face school. AAPS has been so thoughtful and successful with their social emotional focus this year. Social interactions with peers are an essential part of the social emotional needs of students and I am beyond disappointed that this is not being extended to our students with disabilities. I hope the board and district decides tonight to reinstate the peer to peer programs virtually throughout schools in Ann Arbor.
18 Tara Shankar, MD I am a physician in Ann Arbor. As a medical professional as well as an essential care worker, I find it alarming that the currently accepted return to school metrics do not seem to be based on the epidemiology of COVID-19. It is even more alarming that the Board has continually ignored the input of medical professionals within the community as well as the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, and the New England Journal of Medicine, all of whom have released statements and/or papers emphasizing the importance of in-person schooling. Within the medical community, we see the negative outcomes associated with extended school closures: increased disparities in educational outcomes, increased anxiety and depression, poor social and emotional development, and increased rates of domestic abuse. Offering for-profit outdoor recreational classes via Rec and Ed cannot fill this void, and only serves to widen the disparity in resources available to children in our community. 19 Kristine Thank you for the opportunity to write you today. I last wrote you one month McWilliams, MD, ago about AAPS back-to-school metrics and the “key metrics” required by PhD the State of Michigan. I appreciate the work you have since done, but request the FULL set of required key metrics, which includes local COVID-19 testing capacity, hospitalization rates and death rates be discussed at tonight’s meeting.
I am also grateful that my own children now attend a local charter school where they are thriving. It’s amazing how quickly they rebounded to happy, engaged students after returning to the face-to-face format young learners need. I will continue to advocate that all AAPS students have the option of this same quality of education.
I am also writing about AAPS’s plans for the future. Specifically, I am requesting discussion of AAPS 20/21 enrollment numbers and current average teacher to student ratios. During our time at AAPS, my 4th grade son’s classes were overcrowded, with at least 26 students each year. I am hearing of AAPS elementary class sizes now typically in the 16-17 pupil range. Is this true and, if so, can the group this evening discuss the ability to keep class sizes closer to these numbers? The classroom size issue will be the biggest factor in our family’s future AAPS decisions. 20 Elizabeth Hill I’m a parent to an AAPS student and pediatrician. I read your recent open letter asking for the community’s help to minimize COVID spread. Please recognize that our educational community HAS done the hard work of controlling spread. Kids only for 2.4% of cases in our county. Early elementary kids are less than 0.4% of cases. UofM research shows that college student infections are not spreading to the larger community. We are wearing masks, social distancing, and minimizing activities. Our kids are doing what they need to do so that they can return to school and not be an infection risk. Please stop punishing them for what others are doing to make your metrics impossible to meet. 21 Ryan Bowles This school year is going terribly for my two 1st graders. The approach to their education is failing and this should come as no surprise because it is developmentally inappropriate. Kids this age should have limited screen time and education should involve lots of physical interaction with their environment and peers, and lots of movement. Forcing them to sit in front of a computer does not work. My kids break down in tears every single day. Every. Single. Day.
We must get our young students and other vulnerable learners back into school. Yes, we need to be concerned about safety, but we also need to be concerned about education. There is a right balance between these concerns, and we are not anywhere near the right balance. Stop putting the burden of education on the parents and putting us at risk of stress-related mental and physical health issues. Stop failing our children and putting them at risk of poor educational outcomes, which are associated with long-term mental and physical health issues. We need to at least partially reopen so that we can actually educate our kids. 22 Annemarie I assume that the most recently posted dashboard are the numbers that will Sammartino be used at this board meeting to decide about when to return to hybrid/in- person learning for stage 1.
Obviously, this is not a situation with easy answers. However, the time has come for students to be back in the classroom.
We are hitting most (if not all) of the indicators for bringing kids back (and it is also arguable that even these err on the side of being too stringent). Furthermore, the trade-offs involved in continuing virtual learning are increasingly clear and increasingly grave--we have seen ourselves how despite excellent teachers, virtual education pales in comparison to an in-person format, especially for the youngest and most vulnerable learners.
I am surely not the first person to point you to this article (https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/10/schools-arent- superspreaders/616669/), but not only is the article itself convincing, it links to some intriguing evidence that reopening schools does not seem to drive community transmission. See also (https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2020/10/12/peds.2020- 031971) Meanwhile, it is undeniable that keeping kids out of school has dire risks for their futures (https://www.propublica.org/article/the-students-left- behind-by-remote-learning).
In other words, we are all suffering the problems of virtual education without any clear evidence that it is actually protecting the community!
The fact that AAPS remains virtual--even as our neighboring districts have begun to bring students back--is not a sign that AAPS is being safer, but rather that it has chosen to displace risk onto the community and displace its duty to educate kids onto overburdened families.
Of course, bringing kids back to school is not something that should be done without mitigation efforts and plans in place. I am heartened that the district seems to have made a few infrastructure and signage changes but also wonder about what plans are being made to have comprehensive testing of staff and students. I look forward to hearing more about contact tracing and about how cohorts and classroom management/traffic will be handled.
There are risks to having kids in school and those need to be mitigated to the degree that is possible, but an evidence-based approach needs to recognize the many risks to public health, educational outcomes, economic stability, etc. that are caused by virtual schooling. The time has come to begin to bring kids back to in-person education. 23 Nick and Jordan We are writing as a part of a group of concerned parents, who have formed Else the Ann Arbor School Parents Intent on Racial Equity (AASPIRE). We are committed to advancing racial equity within the Ann Arbor public schools and are writing today to follow up on the implementation of the Ann Arbor Public Schools Equity Plan.
We ask that you implement the Equity Plan already. When will we hear a timeline for the equity audit? What is the district doing to consider a neutral third party investigation? How and when will these results be published?
Our community cannot best support our Black, Indigineous, and People of Color students, families, and staff without an independent, third-party investigation. Our words, and the Equity Plan, are hollow without this. There is too much bias and distrust within the district already for this to be completed internally. We need to show BIPOC students, families, and staff that their thoughts and opinions matter and that we are humble enough to look outside our district for help with both exposing the gaps and showing the strengths.
We would like you to support the AAPS Equity Plan’s pillar of Courageous, Equity Centered Leadership. You’ve said yourselves that one action that best supports this pillar is to “complete [an] equity audit in collaboration with equity partners at every school.” In order to truly carry this out in a bias-free way, we must hire a third party agency and make the results transparent.
Our hope is that this audit will include the perspectives of students, parents, and staff. As you probably already know, the National Center for Urban School Transformation and Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium are well versed in these types of audits and we suggest consulting with them if you have not already. We would love to hear that this audit has been scheduled before the first of the year. When can we expect more information? 24 Jen Larson I am a pediatric neuropsychologist and parent to 2 elementary school children.
I would like to see a clear and actionable plan to a reasonable return to school. Kids are falling behind. Families are falling behind. The struggle is real and only YOU can help.
Per the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) is an educational entitlement of all students in the United States. At present, my children's education is not free, public, nor an appropriate education.
The financial cost of having my children at home is extraordinary, this includes costs of child care, in home, through learning pods, and drop offs at community facilitated programs. It also includes my and my husbands lost wages and use of paid time off . This is simply not feasible for most of us.
It's not public nor equitable, nor is it education. Yes you have my child's attention for a few hours a day, but things don't seem to soak in, progress is not apparent, and academic and social growth is minimal. Those most at risk are most affected and this decision to not teach kids in school simply widens the gap. 25 Sally Merkling Governor Whitmer provided guiding principles to inform a safe return to in person schooling - Those principles include:
1. Equitable access to learning is a right for each child.
2. In collaboration with parents, students, and teachers, schools will use data and evidence to prioritize resources for each child.
There has been no collaboration, in fact you ignored the input of parents and teachers from the June survey that told you that 90% of AAPS parents and 91% of teachers wanted to return to in person school in the fall. The data being used is conflated and being interpreted to meet the political goals of AAPS, not to carryout the mission of Governor Whitmer.
Access to learning is not equitable in the virtual environment being used now in AAPS.
Please listen to ALL of us, not because it is the right thing to do but because Governor Whitmer instructed you to do so. 26 Amy Crawford I am the parent of a first grader who would have attended Burns Park this year. Instead, when we heard that AAPS was going to be remote, we decided to send her to private school. The cost of tuition is no small thing for our middle class family, but given how poorly things went when her kindergarten class went online last spring, we knew it was the best thing for her education, and perhaps more importantly, for her mental health. She is thriving this year, both emotionally and educationally. Her school does not have an immensity of resources, but they are keeping everyone healthy using common sense solutions like podding and ventilation (open windows and fans, nothing fancy). And it turns out that even little kids can be relied upon to wear masks all day!
As happy as my child is, it breaks my heart that so many children in our community are not able to attend what my daughter calls "real school." Please follow the preponderance of evidence we now have from overseas, from this country and even right here in Ann Arbor and reopen the schools now. It can be done safely, and if the children really are our future, doing so is to everyone's benefit. 27 Dr. Catherine I am an Ann Arbor parent and a child psychologist. We have a high-schooler, a Peterson middle-schooler, and a 3rd-grader. But, we have only one AAPS student, because we had to pull two of our three children out of AAPS. The lack of planning and follow-through for meeting the needs of our most vulnerable learners is deeply concerning. As a parent, and as a psychologist, I implore you to address the academic and social-emotional needs of our young learners with 504 plans and IEPs, and of our teens.
This week, I sent two of my children off to a physical building for school, and their joy and relief at being back in school, safely masked and distanced, was palpable. One told me "This is the place for me," and he was NOT referring to the AAPS school that couldn't follow his 504 plan, particularly while virtual. AAPS teens are at grave risk for a mental health crisis. Our most vulnerable learners truly cannot learn from home. Please evaluate the available data and think outside the box to develop at least a hybrid model for families who choose it. Our children will be lost without it. 28 Rachele Stucker Dear Trustees and Dr. Swift:
My child is 7 years old and attends Mitchell Elementary School. He is in general ed, but has an IEP and receives services from the Teacher Consultant and School Social Worker. I know you have been hearing from many people who are upset that AAPS has not returned to in-person schooling, but I wanted to share my family’s experience.
All of the faculty and staff at Mitchell that my child interacts with have been nothing short of phenomenal during this unprecedented time. My son is flourishing—the in-person sessions keep him engaged all morning, and then in the afternoons, evenings, and on Wednesdays and weekends, he has been able to expand on what he is learning by completing the additional specials activities provided, reading for pleasure, and exploring the outdoors. He is meeting with both the TC and SSW weekly—they haven’t missed a beat. Having all of his assignments accessible online has also allowed me to be a more involved parent—I can see what he is learning and engage with him daily about his work and the themes his class is studying. In short, we are having an excellent experience.
Most importantly, though, we are safe and healthy, and we appreciate that his beloved teachers, staff, and building administrators are being allowed to work remotely so that they too can stay safe and healthy. Thank you for prioritizing the health of your students and employees.
Best regards, Rachele Stucker 29 Neil Rae Beyond disappointed in the AAPS and the Teacher's Union. Primary grade experience is the worst in the entire region. Irreparable harm has been done to the AAPS system and anyone who can is sending their children to private schools. These students will not be rushing back to a District where the welfare of students is not paramount. Great job defunding yourselves and undermining the hard-earned community support Teachers in AA enjoy. The Teacher's Union has failed to aggressively problem solve with the District and answer the bell the way healthcare workers, daycare workers, and others have. Our primary students should have been in school and the surrounding communities have made it work. Time to re-evaluate priorities! 30 Alex Bean I am looking forward to this evening's discussion around school re-opening for Y5-2nd grade and students with IEPs.
With the dramatic improvement in our metrics, re-openings of neighboring school districts, and greater understanding of spread between U of M and the larger Ann Arbor community, we should see positive movements towards the hybrid transition.
I worry that if this decision is not made tonight, it never will be made and we will not have in-person education this year.
My fear is that tonight we will hear "well let's wait and see until the next meeting" based on arbitrary metrics that are not what has been approved and publicly socialized. Next meeting we will hear "let's not open so close to the Thanksgiving holiday". The follow meeting we will hear "let's not open so close to the long holiday break" and so on.
This will result in running out the clock on the school year. Combined with last year's closure, an 18 month break in education will be devastating to our most at-risk students. If this is the plan, it needs to be stated publicly and we should all take a moment to recognize the failure. 31 Melissa Emery I am a concerned parent of two Ann Arbor school children, a 15 year old son who is a sophomore at Pioneer High School and an 11 year son who is a sixth grader at Ann Arbor Open. My 15 year old son has an IEP for inattentive ADHD and an autism spectrum diagnosis, my 11 year old has a 504 plan for ADHD (combined inattentive and hyperactivity). They are both NOT receiving the services their legal documents say they must to attend school. At home, they are bored and disengaged in their virtual classrooms. I’m a divorced, working mother who has a job outside the home. They are left alone each day to school alone when they’re with me (my ex and I share 50/50 custody). When asked to describe their online learning experience, my younger son calls it “garbage” and my older son says it’s a “dumpster fire”. My older son is failing most of his classes (even getting a “D” in art) and while my younger son does not get grades, as that’s the Open way, he is turning in just enough work to get by, just enough to earn the credit and could care less. Both boys admit to playing video games or watching something else while online schooling, even though they know they’re not supposed to. Both desire to return to in person learning, the younger is starved for peer socialization and the older one needs more one on one learning, either with his teachers or with teacher consultants, like he was receiving last year. Currently, their teachers are not “real”, they’re these abstract beings that have no accountability to their students and are not there to talk to or answer questions. My children do not feel that they’re learning anything and are left to figure out their homework alone. And my children struggle with self-advocacy anyway, this format makes it near impossible to connect with their teachers. Several large school districts have returned to full time in person learning, including Livonia, Brighton and several downriver school districts. And from what I understand, students with IEP’s in Ypsilanti schools are meeting for face to face learning. Recently, top doctors, researchers and epidemiologists from around the world met and are advocating for the opening of all schools. There is much scientific data on the safety of opening schools for children, why is this vital information being ignored? This is definitely not a one size fits all situation. My kids DESERVE to be educated in person and you as Board members owe it to them to make that happen. 32 Isaak Murshak I would like to comment about the good intentions of the board to keep schools in remote learning. My spouse is a teacher and member of the MEA and was completely supportive of online learning before the school year. However, once the school year started she immediately changed her mind and realized the massive equity gap is going to explode even more with remote learning. Additionally, schools around the nation have shown success not spreading the virus in schools. Even children in preschool are now comfortable wearing masks. We can safely open schools with basic PPE. The consequences of not opening are going to hurt our most vulnerable population both with economic challenges and learning differences. It is a moral decision, and Ann Arbor's positivity rate would lead any reasonable epidemiologist to advise opening schools. Please make the correct decision and come up with a plan to open schools and protect our most vulnerable population.