Four years ago we lost our son because of illness in the classroom. Living through a pandemic after losing so much to infectious disease is a special kind of hell, but we're able to minimize our risk in all but one place:

School.

1/11

During these last four years we've been advocating for better illness prevention in our schools and throughout our communities. We talk about flu shots in particular and vaccination in general, staying home sick, covering coughs and sneezes, handwashing and cleaning surfaces.2/11

The flu, like #COVID19, can spread from up to 6' in conversation, and while it might not be serious for one person, it could cost the life of the person they pass it on to. And while the flu is serious and claims a lot of lives, COVID-19 is a greater immediate threat. 3/11

The most important lesson we've learned in the four years of advocating for better illness prevention is it only works if people can do it. This sounds obvious, but we haven't built systems that enable that. This is a concern we hear from people almost every single day. 4/11

One of the best ways to prevent the spread of illness is to stay home when you're sick, but for many people #sickdays are inaccessible or unaffordable. In a normal year, people are often unable to take a sick day or keep their kids home sick from school. They have no choice. 5/11

Now we look ahead to September and families who are unable to take the #sickdays they would need in a normal year are being told to plan to have their kids home 3 days/week at a minimum - more with any sign of illness.

They can't.

6/11

https://www.forjudeforeveryone.com/sick-day-rights/

There are not enough childcare spaces. There weren't enough before the pandemic, there is no way to meet the demand if we move forward with a hybrid model.

Parents (statistically, mostly moms) will be forced to drop out of the workforce. 7/11 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/02/business/covid-economy-parents-kids-career-homeschooling.html?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_nn_20200702&instance_id=19941&nl=the-morning&regi_id=66899898&segment_id=32426&te=1&user_id=949fc02b04f21c074a89d842ec122493&fbclid=IwAR12kN_CKS6epyZ2-VOpXUF9Z52930c3A95Tgw_PHczl-kvbAspOh0tCLQ0

Even if there were enough childcare spaces, sending kids out to different facilities or homes on days they aren't in school eliminates any potential of reducing the spread of illness, instead opening up the potential for greater spread. 8/11

Listen to teachers. Understand how classrooms work. Listen to what you're asking if you want them to teach in-class full-time and also prepare remote learning for a full class.

How? 9/11

Any plan to reduce the spread of illness has to be something people can do or it won't work. This isn't it, and we need to see the people in charge of education working now to create a plan that actually works for families. There's no room to wait and see. We have 2 months. 10/11

And if you haven't already, please read every word of this excellent thread from @ldobsonhughes on our kids' right to education, and our govts' responsibility to deliver it. If we fail with school reopening, we fail everything. It is the lynchpin. 11/11 https://twitter.com/ldobsonhughes/status/1276689006668001283