We are Vermont school workers, parents, students and community members who are deeply alarmed by the state’s failure thus far to provide clear and practical plans, or the necessary funding, needed to keep Vermont communities safe if schools are to re-open for in-person classes this September. Unfortunately the state rejected the VT NEA’s (teachers union) request last month to form a joint task force to create a statewide plan and recently rejected the union's roadmap for a 4 phased approach. Despite this lack of leadership and resources, many of our schools districts have worked tirelessly this summer to come up with the best reopening plans they can to serve the needs of local families, and yet even the leaders of our districts are publicly and privately sharing concerns about the viability and safety issues of these plans.

We are so grateful as Vermonters to live in a state where the coronavirus has not taken as many lives as in other parts of the country. We are also very aware that reopening schools without critical policies and funding in place, could lead to many unnecessary deaths in our schools and communities. This is not a risk we should ever be willing to take as a state.

We are also deeply concerned about the impacts of the pandemic on Vermont families whose income has been impacted by school closures, unemployment and the economic downturn. We need to put in place a strong safety net to protect Vermont families regardless of whether or not schools open for in-person or remote learning this fall.

For all these reasons, we call on the AOE and State of Vermont to:

1. Fully adopt and fund the Vermont NEA’s proposal for “A Phased-In Approach to Safely Reopening Vermont’s Schools,” released on July 30. This is the only comprehensive state-wide plan in existence that outlines a safe, sensible, socially-emotionally responsive, and science-based roadmap to reopening. We trust that our educators know best how to design school safety protocols that will address the physical and emotional health of young people and their families.

2. Pass and fund a full set of social safety net policies aimed at supporting all Vermonters through the economic crisis that has accompanied the pandemic. This must include:

Cancel rent and mortgage payments

Extend unemployment benefits

Free childcare for all essential workers

Paid sick leave for all workers

These measures must be in place before the proposed September 8 start of the year. We have no more time to waste.