To the editor:
I am a graduate of Franklin Community Schools. 2020 marks 10 years since I left FCHS. I no longer live in Franklin, but it will always be home. I return regularly to visit my family and friends, many of whom are part of FCSC.
I live in New York now — one of the United States’ first COVID-19 epicenters. My partner and I, our friends and our colleagues have already lived through the endless sirens, body bags (some child-sized) in freezer trucks and unbearable tension of confinement to our homes, wondering if we’d be the next victims of this mystery virus. The rest of the country is months behind, but will follow suit if we do not change course.
After hearing the alarming news that FCSC is reopening schools in August, I am compelled to voice the extreme concern that I am feeling after the announcement.
In a country and state where COVID-19 cases are rising exponentially, testing is unreliable and no effective vaccine is imminent, it is unconscionable to force students, teachers and other school staff to spend 8+ hours a day, 5 days a week, in close proximity within a closed building. We know that the coronavirus responsible for COVID-19 is airborne, meaning it can exist viably in the air for hours. We also know that transmission risk is highest in crowded indoor spaces with poor ventilation. A classroom is the perfect petri dish.
The information available today on COVID-19 should be enough to turn any reasonable person away from in-person schooling at this time. We are long past the point of containing the virus in a manner that would have allowed a “return to normal” on the timelines proposed by our politicians, and a return to in-person schooling this early is undeniably premature.
No matter what side of the political aisle you fall on, it’s an inescapable truth that our country has been hit harder than others. People are scared. They’re confused. They don’t know where to find concrete steps to safety. Accurate transmission rates, expert guidance, and the dire projections of coming months are often hoarded behind platitudes and opaque political justifications.
And so local leaders have been forced to make decisions that equate to life and death for their communities; we’ve seen the impact of those choices across the nation. This is a time for community leaders to shoulder that responsibility and dig deep to serve their constituents. If we cannot rely on common sense, compassion, and transparency from our federal or state governments, then local leaders must embody those qualities.
My proposal to Franklin’s leaders: roll back reopening for a semester. Give everyone 3 more months of safety and protection, and do not revisit in-person schooling until there is a widely available vaccine. Invest every spare dollar into resources for online education, which has been proven time and again to be an effective forum when adequate technology, reliable internet and administrative support is provided.
Address the fears that if we don’t let children back into school, they may go hungry, be abused, or lose their only socialization, and invest in programs to meet those needs. FCSC fed and nurtured its students in the spring; I trust it can do so again in the fall. Facilitate virtual games and explore the limitless bounds of social activities that can be done online. Schedule check-ins for students who may be at risk of harm.
I implore FCSC to provide these resources and enable students and teachers to safely pursue life’s inalienable right to education. Do not force parents to decide whether in-person classes are worth gambling their children’s lives. Do not send your educators to the frontlines, knowing they’ll expose themselves and their families.
I implore the greater Franklin community to listen to experts, listen to those of us who have already endured the devastating first surge, and heed the warnings. Make your voices heard to the FCSC board, and demand a stop to school reopenings that directly endanger you and your family. These representatives answer to you. Exercise your right to proper guidance and safety from your leaders.
A deadly virus knows no party affiliation, and it will not discriminate between the thoughtful and the reckless when both are forced into understaffed classrooms. This is a plea on behalf of my family, friends and others from my hometown community whose lives deserve to be protected.
They deserve better.
Madeleine Clark
New York, New York (Franklin native)
