Dear Kalamazoo Public Schools’ Trustees, Superintendent Raichoudhuri, and Community,

The Kalamazoo Education Association is made up of over 800 teachers, therapists, librarians, instructional coaches, nurses, and counselors. We stand in solidarity to request that all decisions about reopening our schools be based on the safety of our community, students, and staff. We want to ensure that the schools open safely with a remote start for at least the first 12 weeks. This is not a request we make lightly. In our assessment, the minimum criteria for reopening schools has not been met, nor has the spread of COVID-19 in our community been mitigated or contained. Therefore, our schools cannot be reopened safely under these conditions. We want to respect our KPS families and staff by not asking them to risk their lives to reopen schools prematurely. At this time, the District has yet to discuss safety plans and protocols with staff.

Therefore, we request the following from the District to return to work safely in the fall.

1. All resources should be focused on making the KPS remote experience the best it can be starting on August 31, 2020. Including equitable access to technology, instructional materials, and appropriate internet service.
2. KPS will announce to the public, as soon as possible, that school will start in a safe, remote only environment for the initial 12 weeks of school.
3. KPS and KEA should follow the recommendations of established, governmental and professional health and science organizations. Only when a consensus to safely reopen is reached, will the KEA consider a return to in-person instruction.
4. KPS will NOT outsource our work or our students, as is the current KPS plan.

Top government officials have stated that schools need to open in order to provide much-needed childcare to parents who, they argue, need to get back to work in order for our nation’s economy to recover. We understand the central importance of our public schools to the economic health of our city. However, we cannot have an economic recovery unless the coronavirus is effectively contained. Premature school reopenings are likely to slow economic recovery rather than improve it. Currently, Michigan’s new daily cases have been rising and have not stabilized or dropped.

The Pandemic has negatively impacted all members of our community. According to the CDC, history shows that severe illness and death rates tend to be higher for racial and ethnic minority populations during public health emergencies than for other populations. Knowing our district’s demographics, our students and families could suffer from complications, serious illness, and death if exposed to the coronavirus. In order to prioritize our most vulnerable, we must understand that premature, unsafe reopening plans will be most dangerous for the very students we seek to protect. No one should have to choose between their health, education and providing for their families.

The issues that our communities face are the result of years of racism and underinvestment in our public schools by state and national leaders. We are being cautioned that funding shortfalls in education will be devastatingly high this year. Given this prediction there is no foreseeable way to create a safe environment for students and educators that can be resolved before the start of the coming school year.

As educators we know that in-person instruction holds the greatest value for our students, however, we believe there is only one safe option. We can choose to put our community at risk by perpetuating the spread of the virus, or we can protect our community by following in the footsteps of Ann Arbor, Battle Creek, Waverly, Lansing, West Bloomfield, Melvindale, Los Angeles, San Diego and several other cities and announce a virtual return for the Fall for at least the first 12 weeks.

In solidarity,

The Kalamazoo Education Association