Dear JCPS Superintendent and Board of Education,
Tonight, as you weigh difficult, critical decisions regarding when and how to safely return to in-person schooling, we thank you for keeping the health and safety of our students, their families and their teachers and all who work in the service of their care as your primary concern.
No doubt you’ve received numerous and varied points of data regarding this topic. Due to the extra layer of anonymity Dear JCPS provides, combined with our group’s intentional efforts to seek input from impacted community members, we believe that we bring a different perspective to the table.
We hope that you find useful the information reflected in our recent survey results revealing teachers’ willingness and ability to return to in-person schooling. May this feedback, along with parents’ needs, concerns and barriers also captured in the survey, help guide your decision making as you begin to phase-in, pair and prioritize students, adults and classrooms. We hope that you will take a moment to read some of the individual concerns that were shared with us by parents, teachers, staff and administrators, as well, which can be found here:
Later this evening, we will be uploading the most recent episode of Save Our Schools with Dear JCPS. In it, we discuss the purpose of the survey, some surprise revelations regarding the proposed tax increase (including the overlooked West-End, black- and black-allied organizations’ stances on it and efforts underway to prevent them from being silenced), a new program we are proud to launch called Dear JCPS Teachable Moments, and more. We hope you will give it a watch, review the comments, and provide us with your feedback.
Thank you again for your hard work and bravery to make difficult decisions during these uncertain times.