The demands. Count how many have anything to do with children in the classroom. They have no intention of going back to the classroom and instead have a wishlist.

The co-signers of this petition ask for the following to support a safe reopening of schools for Rhode Island students, families and school staff:

1. A delay of at least two weeks to the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year (SY) to give LEAs and school teams time to prepare for an unprecedented opening situation.

2. A return to distance learning for all Rhode Island schools at the beginning of the 2020-2021 SY

3. Because doctors are unsure of how the seasonal flu will interact with Covid, or how treatments and vaccines will develop, we are asking state decisionmakers to hold off on an in-person return to learning and only revisit that decision at the end of the first semester.

4. The state must fund and provide alternative childcare options while schools remain in virtual learning.

5. The state must provide additional funding to districts for IEP and 504 accommodations that don’t compromise student or teacher safety.

6. The state must fund and provide wraparound services for all Rhode Island students, comparable to the services they would have received in their school buildings (free breakfast and lunch, adequate mental health services, and anything else community leaders say their constituents need).

7. The state must fund and provide financial safeguards for families with school-age children (eviction and utility moratoriums, flexible unemployment, extended stimulus relief).

8. The state must provide additional funding and time in all districts for professional development that focuses on optimizing distance learning.

9. Emergency distance learning was well supported in the Spring by the state’s efforts to put technology and internet access into the hands of all of our children. We request that in the 2020-2021 SY, the state continues to fund and provide accessible technology needed to provide equitable access to virtual learning for all Rhode Island students (high-speed Wi-Fi, Chromebooks, etc.)

I feel bad for any child trying to learn.