Campbell Hill Elementary PTA

As most of you have heard by now, the Renton School District is planning a phase-in approach to return students to the classrooms later this month. At Campbell Hill Elementary PTA we understand that the logistics of such a project are extremely complicated due to the infectiousness of COVID-19, and the difficulties that online learning presents. Kids need to be educated, there’s no question about this, and parents are being strained to no end trying to juggle childcare, education, and work. And yet, it is worth asking the question if getting back to school with only one-trimester remaining is actually what’s best for our kids, our teachers, and our communities.

In the survey that RSD sent to weigh interest in returning back to the classrooms, the only question asked was whether parents would send their kids back to school, there was no option to remain with the student’s current teacher, or apparently, any input from educators themselves on their level of comfort before sending this survey. In these unprecedented times, we must seek our voices to be heard, whether you’d like your children to go back to the school building, or you’d like to wait until teachers are vaccinated for it to proceed, or even if you’d like to keep your children home until they can be vaccinated against COVID-19. I’m calling on all of us to make our opinions known and let the school district understand more about what we want, I’m calling on all of us to seek transparency and (whatever your choice be on the matter) to get involved in the decision process.

Other parents from the Renton District shared a letter they plan to email to the district employees, I have attached it to this blog post for anyone who would like to use it as a template for their own email communication. I hope this will allow us to come together as a community to work for the common good, and for the good of our families.

-Jakeline Nowell

PTA Treasurer

In regards to In-Person Learning