COVID-19 is spreading unabated through our state, and community mitigation strategies are weak, at best. A recent Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA)​ study showed that Arizona has one of the highest pediatric hospitalization rates in the country. But that's not the only "firsts" for our state:

*Arizona is first in new cases per capita
*Arizona is first in new deaths per capita
*Arizona is second in total deaths per capita
*Our current Rt level is over 1 and testing rates are decreasing (Rt is the average number of people who become infected by an infectious person. If Rt is above 1.0, the virus will spread quickly. When Rt is below 1.0, the virus will stop spreading.)
*Zip codes​within the Gilbert Public School boundaries have the highest rates of positive COVID tests in the state

The overall risk level for contracting the virus, per the Arizona Department of Public Health is "substantial" for Maricopa County. Additionally, AZDHS recommends schools be in a "virtual learning" setting during this time of substantial community spread.

As families, we enrolled our children in specific learning models based upon the commitment the Gilbert Public School Governing Board made at the onset of the 2020-2021 school year to follow a specific set of metrics, in order to determine the safety of our schools. Teachers agreed to return to school in the classroom based upon that same commitment. Those metrics were based on AZDHS "Safely Returning to In-Person Instruction" guidelines. In December, the Board revised its benchmarks, choosing to make them reliant upon the District’s own dashboard, and no longer compliant with AZDHS guidelines.

The district dashboard has proven to be a problematic measurement tool due to inconsistent and inaccurate data reporting. It represents only the cross-section of the district population which responsibly tests and subsequently self-reports positives for on-ground students to their school.

The aforementioned change was largely the result of a vocal, minority contingent aggressively demanding the reopening of schools at any cost, speaking in-person at Board meetings. GPS constituents who cannot attend in-person are encouraged to email members of the governing board prior to the meeting. However, those communications are rarely acknowledged by governing board members, and the concerns expressed therein are neither read nor recognized on the public record. This gives an unfair perception to individuals watching the livestream/recordings that GPS families overwhelmingly support an all in-person learning environment, despite a continued increase in community spread in our zip codes. Educators, medical professionals, community leaders and parents who are high-risk themselves or live with medically fragile individuals (perhaps their own children) deserve to have their voices heard. We encourage GPS staff and the Governing Board to devise a plan to ensure all voices are heard (both in-person and those sent via email/phone) to make the Governing Board meetings more inclusive and equitable. ​

The undersigned request the Gilbert Public School Governing Board to take the following actions:

1. Keep our schools, families and community safe by returning to the metrics it committed to follow, to determine in-person vs. virtual learning for Gilbert Public School students, at the beginning of the 2020-21 school year, and carefully follow and enforce Arizona Department of Health Services mitigation guidelines.

2. Conduct monthly board meetings in a more equitable and inclusive way, to ensure the inclusion of all voices on the record.
​
3. As the District COVID-19 dashboard collects data using unscientific means and relies on families self-reporting COVID positive cases, we encourage the Board to not utilize "the dashboard" as the only means to determine the district learning model