Students and staff should feel safe when they come to school. Students were aware that if they chose to come back to school, they would be required to wear a mask. COVID has not gone away yet. We need to do the most that we can to protect ourselves and others.

Alex Jones is a far-right conspiracy theorist profiting off a huge fake news empire via his InfoWars website, talk shows, and consumer products, who personally "helped jumpstart" the January 6 insurrection. Which is why it's completely unacceptable that Amazon sells Jones' merchandise and dietary supplements, even going so far as to host his online storefront. Facebook, Apple, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, Spotify, and PayPal have all banned Alex Jones for hate speech violations. Amazon forced Parler, a far-right social media platform, offline by suspending them from their AWS hosting platform after the January 6 insurrection, ultimately causing Parler to go into hibernation for months. And yet, Amazon is fine collecting their 15% off of Jones' Super Male Vitality Natural Stamina Liquid Drops and other unregulated so-called nutritional supplements. It's time for Amazon to pull the InfoWars Store and stop profiting off of hate speech peddler Alex Jones.

Too many are right now trying to sweep the events of January 6th, 2021 under the rug and pretending it wasn't that bad. But insurrectionists and anyone who somehow encouraged this - whether they are in congress or not - need to be reminded of their actions so they- at the very least learn something. The savage beatings of police and other Capitol defenders with American flags needs to be addressed as criminal and unpatriotic.

Back in June, an OAN host suggested that “traitors" who "stole" the election should be executed. OAN spreads dangerous messages like these every single day, powered by the income from AT&T.  And court records show that not only does AT&T provide tens of millions of dollars in revenue for OAN, AT&T allegedly proposed the idea of a right-wing show for its satellite service, DirecTV, the only cable provider that gives OAN a platform to spread its dangerous messages. Even OAN lawyer Patrick Nellies acknowledged that if OAN loses or isn’t renewed by AT&T's DirecTV, the company would “go out of business tomorrow,” which shows just how much power AT&T has to stop OAN. And AT&T isn’t just giving a platform and singlehandedly bankrolling conspiracy theory network OAN, it also donated almost $300,000 to the Texas lawmakers who sponsored or co-sponsored the horrible abortion ban. Unfortunately, that’s not all. AT&T was also among the corporations that committed to stop donating PAC money to Republicans who voted to overturn the results of the 2020 election and fueled the insurrection, but it broke that commitment and has since donated thousands, hoping we wouldn't notice. AT&T is fueling attacks on our democracy by propping up and enabling white supremacy propaganda and conspiracy theory network OAN and by funneling PAC donations to insurrectionists. AT&T must drop OAN from DirecTV now.

Medical institutions across the country have successfully made plans to vaccinate and keep their medical students in the clinical environment. UVA has vaccinated clinical medical students and is now moving on to vaccinate their 1st and 2nd year preclinical students. VCU still doesn’t have an answer for when our clinical students may be vaccinated and there is no explanation for why this is not possible. The return to the clinical environment is contingent on becoming vaccinated, however, it seems that this is not currently a priority. The clinical education of medical students nationwide has already been disrupted due to removal from clinical activities during the summer. Currently it is unprecedented for an academic institution such as VCU to remove students for another 60-90 days. Decreased clinical time will impede education and set students back in their readiness for residency compared to peers at other institutions. While we are medical students now we will be the residents tasked with treating these patients in less than 1-2 years. These changes also ignore the value that medical students bring to patient care teams. Finally, this is a case where medical students are overlooked and undervalued. It is hoped that awareness of this situation will help administrations maintain transparency and prepare for situations like this to prevent such events from recurring. Local news coverage: https://www.nbc12.com/2021/01/05/medical-students-write-letter-vcu-health-regarding-vaccine-plan/ https://www.virginiamercury.com/2021/01/06/some-local-medical-providers-struggle-to-access-vaccine-as-doses-go-to-health-systems-stay-at-home-workers/

Many US families still have significant savings in our accounts and have our Dependent Care facilities closed due to Covid 19. I would hate to see our hard earned savings go to waste due to a March 15th deadline. I know I'm not alone. This simple change could help a lot of families once Dependent Care facilities are safe to open and keep our children safe again.

Rahm Emanuel‘s decisions and policies as mayor had a disproportionate and racist impact on Black communities, and his agenda aided corporations and the wealthy at the expense of working Chicagoans. To aid his re-election campaign in 2015, he suppressed video footage of the 2014 murder of a 17-year-old Black child, Laquan McDonald, by Chicago police. He made history by closing 50 public schools across Chicago, primarily in the majority-Black South and West Side communities of the city—the most school closures at one time in any school districts in the nation. During his first year in office, his administration shut down half of the public mental health clinics across Chicago. Soon after taking office, he eliminated the city’s Department of Environment, and as a result, environmental regulation dropped considerably. Communities of color throughout Chicago have borne the brunt of this decision, and thousands of people (primarily Black families) have been exposed to chemical hazards and irritants as a result. And while his administration was consistently slashing public services and utilities, the city funded the construction of a brand-new, $95-million police academy on Chicago’s West Side. The Department of Transportation has unions representing over 38,000 employees at the federal and national level. As mayor of Chicago, in addition to closing 50 schools, Emanuel repeatedly attacked public unions by supporting legislation that would make it harder for teachers to strike, laid off hundreds of school staff, and threatened to lay off hundreds of city employees in order to privatize some city services. Emanuel served big business and corporate interests throughout his time as mayor, and his decisions disproportionately harmed working families and communities of color. We have no reason to believe that he’d act any differently as a member of President-elect Biden’s Cabinet. President-elect Biden is taking office during a time of deep, overlapping crises. His administration will need to be bold, ambitious, and transformative and will need to speak to the needs of everyday people, and he needs to stand up for Black communities, as he said he would last month. His appointees must reflect that vision. Rahm Emanuel's track record is an affront to everything we voted for—especially to Black Americans—and he should have no place in the new administration.

I am a parent of two Denver Public Schools middle and high school students. My children’s health, happiness and social and academic successes are important to me as they are for all parents. Transitioning into the teenage years, their bodies naturally adjust to staying up later and sleeping in (when given the opportunity) yet they still need 8 to 10 hours of sleep each night.  The current early morning start times in DPS are detrimental to their success as students and threaten their overall health.   Quality and quantity of sleep matter at all ages, but sleep is especially critical for teens. Growth and development occur during sleep and adequate sleep leads to improved attention span, attitude and overall improved health and wellness. What’s more, lack of sleep or poor quality sleep can have detrimental effects on the immune system and are tied to higher levels of stress. According to sleep specialist Wendy Troxel, a behavioral and social scientist with Rand Corp., “Research consistently finds inadequate sleep in teens is associated with increased risk of mental and physical health problems, including depression, suicide and obesity. It also creates problems with their concentration, memory, and ability to learn.” I understand that transportation logistics propose a hurdle to making schedule changes. However, we know that several other large, metro-area districts, as well as large school districts across the country, have successfully transitioned to a later start time for teens. During this unprecedented time, we have the opportunity to work solve these logistical problems and to create transportation schedules that support later start times for our middle and high schools when they return in-person learning. This petition requests that DPS create a new schedule for middle and high school students by implementing later start times to begin in the 2021-2022 school year. The science and social benefits are well documented, but here some articles that highlight important aspects of changing to a later start time:     https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/features/schools-start-too-early.html https://www.rwjf.org/en/blog/2018/02/three-reasons-to-consider-later-school-start-times.html https://www.nationaljewish.org/conditions/health-information/multimedia/facebook-live/why-do-teens-sleep-later https://www.rand.org/blog/2019/08/im-a-sleep-specialist-heres-how-i-prepare-my-two-teenagers.html https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2015/10/among-teens-sleep-deprivation-an-epidemic.html Show your support to implement later start times by signing this petition!

I am a parent of a 1st grade and 2 pre-k students. Remote learning cannot replace the in-person learning experience for our youngest students, and it is hurting them academically and socially. On top of that, it has put an enormous burden on parents. We need to maximize the opportunity for live instruction and interaction with peers. Tell PS130 to include Fridays in the 2 cohort hybrid learning plan.

Due to the pandemic our university has chosen to make most of our classes virtual. Although this was a noble decision made for the greater good, it has impacted many students negatively. Many feel as though the workload has actually increased with online classes. There is no direct blame for this as we are all still trying to adjust. To many of us, it appears there is not much of a difference from the abrupt change in Spring 2020. Online classes are hard enough, so why should we still have the same grading system as we did with in person classes? Struggles such as having class at home and trying to find a quiet environment, fighting mental struggles as we are away from social life, and the pressure of achieving grades that will impact our future plans is simply unfair if the grading scale is not adjusted. We should be given the option to pass/fail our classes as we all face different hardships during these difficult times.

Virtual learning is too difficult for kids to stay on track and for their caregivers to help complete.

The reasons for requesting this reversal are as follows: 1. This policy places an unnecessary burden on working parents during an already stressful situation due to the pandemic. For the HACA programs: Many working parents chose HACA for a variety of reasons, but a majority chose to do so due to health concerns for their children and family members. Working parents have rearranged their lives and work schedule in order to make sure their children succeed in the HACA program. And, many chose the HACA program over others in order to keep their tax dollars in the district. For all online education: To change this policy now, only 9 weeks into the year, may force parents to choose between their jobs and their children’s education/health or to move their children to an asynchronous cyber program outside of the district. 2. For HACA Program: The decision to change this policy should not have been made AFTER parents were required to commit to another 9 week term of the HACA cyber program. 3. I would direct you to the Intercultural Development Research Program’s guidelines for equitable teaching in an online environment: https://www.idra.org/services/ensuring-equity-in-online-learning-considerations-in-response-to-covid-19s-impact-on-schooling/. A lot of research has emphasized that asynchronous online teaching is the best practice for maintaining equity, because the requirement of synchronous learning widens the gap for students who do not have easy access to the internet or whose parents’ work situation requires flexibility. 4. The Department of Education lists the completion of work by the following day as a way to record attendance. In fact, they define attendance in the following terms: “students' physical exposure to or contact with learning activities.” Completion of work the following day meets this standard as outlined in Table 2: Sample decision matrix for remote learning days. For this information, see the DOE website on attendance: https://www.education.pa.gov/Schools/safeschools/emergencyplanning/COVID-19/SchoolReopeningGuidance/ReopeningPreKto12/CreatingEquitableSchoolSystems/FocusEffectiveInstruction/Assessment/Pages/Attendance.aspx. 5. For HACA Elementary: There is NO asynchronous option for elementary cyber education as there is at the secondary level. Without this option, it is unethical to require students to attend live, synchronous classes. It is for these reasons that we request the reversal of the attendance policy. We only ask that the district act in a fair and equitable manner that does not put undue stress on working families as well as those without consistent technological access. The district has repeatedly respected the needs of parents in the school district by opening brick and mortar elementary schools for 5 days a week and voting to keep schools open despite the recommendation by the Department of Health. We ask that Superintendent Wolicki and the HASD School Board do the same for cyber parents, respecting the unique needs and challenges for those enrolled in the HACA program. In addition, at the secondary level, students must follow the flex A/B schedule which requires student attendance online without considering the adjustment families must make to accommodate this hybrid format. The reversal of this new attendance policy will be the best way for parents, especially working parents, to help their children succeed in an online schooling environment.