nothin Parents Organize #SchoolsOut Protest | New Haven Independent

Parents Organize #SchoolsOut Protest

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Nijija-Ife Waters: Protesting to get more plans for medically compromised students.

Some parents and teachers are planning to boycott New Haven’s first day back of in-person school Tuesday.

City Wide Parent Team President Nijija-Ife Waters is organizing the protest online, using the hashtag #schoolsout. Her son, Amadi, has been attending school remotely and will not log into his classes on Tuesday as part of the boycott.

He represents those students who are medically compromised. He wants to go back to school but wants to know that he’s going to be safe in school,” Waters said.

Starting on Tuesday, pre‑K through third-grade students will have the option of attending in-person classes four days a week. They will learn remotely one day (probably Wednesday) while the schools undergo deep cleaning. Fourth and fifth-graders will attend school on a hybrid” schedule of two days in person and the rest remote. Special ed and New Arrivals” program students will also have in-person options.

Amadi has asthma and life-threatening allergies. He often needs a nebulizer, which helps to turn asthma medications into mist form. The district has asked students not to use nebulizers during in-person school and promised to work with every student with asthma to create their own safety plan.

Waters is also concerned about how the school would accommodate life-threatening food allergies if all students eat in their classroom.

New Haven Public Schools Superintendent Iline Tracey said that each school has plans for students with life-threatening allergies.

We care about the health of our students, and we are complying with the research and guidance from our public health experts. If we did not care about their health, we would not have spent thousands of dollars preparing our schools for reopening. Parents who do not want their children in person have the choice of doing remote learning,” Tracey wrote.

When asked whether teachers or students would face disciplinary action for taking a protest-related sick day on Tuesday, Tracey said that was up to individual choice.

Parents have the right to choose if they send their children to school. I do not have a response regarding teachers doing a sick out — it would be their choice, but I truly believe that my teachers have great respect for their profession. We will do our best to support our students,” she added.

Read why New Haven Public Schools decided to return to in-person school here and here. Scroll to the bottom of this article to read why some think the research that decision is based on is too limited.

The teachers union, the New Haven Federation of Teachers (NHFT), is not participating in the protest.

The social media chatter calling for a sickout’ is something the NHFT cannot support. This action would not further our concerns and only hurt the students to whom we have dedicated ourselves,” union leadership wrote in a recent update to their members.

Instead, the union has signed a letter announcing its opposition to school reopening and is considering next steps.

Concerned about facing disciplinary action from the district, individual teachers participating in the #schoolsout protest declined to speak to the Independent.

A Mental Health Day

Contributed Photo

Parent Bethzaida Roche: Concerned about students with allergies.

Waters advertised the protest on Facebook as a student mental health day,” during which parents would keep students out of remote or in-person school for the day.

Bethzaida Roche, mother of three children between the ages of 11 and 14, plans to play basketball and video games with her sons on their mental health day. She sent her daughter on a mini-vacation for the day with her father’s side of the family.

Like Waters, Roche said she wants to protest the lack of information she has received about what would happen to children with asthma or allergies. She hopes the district will respond to the protest with a better medical plan and more plans to hold school outside.

Contributed Photo

Roche’s children, left to right: Jose Martinez, age 14, Jeremy Martinez, age 13, and Jaida Martinez, age 11.

Her children are staying remote-only anyway as long as the Covid-19 pandemic continues.

The idea of one of my kids possibly getting the virus … Some people make it through, some people don’t. I would rather have my child at home than see my child’s grave in the cemetery,” Roche said.

Roche has already lost a loved one to Covid-19. Her godmother passed away from the disease soon after the pandemic hit New Haven.

Children are less likely to test positive for Covid-19 and far less likely to die from it than other age groups. According to the Connecticut Department of Public Health, around 33,000 children and teens under the age of 20 have gotten Covid-19 and two have died from the disease.

CT Department of Public Health

Several other parents reached on Monday said that they plan to participate.

I think the New Haven Board of Education doesn’t genuinely care about the health and safety of our children or the teachers, which is why my children will continue with remote learning until this Covid mess is a thing of the past. My children and I will be standing in solidarity with Ms. Waters tomorrow to show the NHBOE that our children and teachers safety is more important than the almighty dollar,” wrote Rocky Rose, parent of a first grader and a fifth grader.

In Facebook posts, Waters linked the protest to Monday’s holiday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Let’s educate our children on why our ancestors protested … to make change!” Waters wrote.

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