WASHINGTON — Lisa Gans and her family are riding out the pandemic in West Virginia, and she admits her boys -- ages 3 and 5 -- are lonely. She would love to send her oldest Jack back to his DC Public School.
"But I’m not willing to take the risk,” Gans said.
Jack is healthy but his mom is a high-risk diabetic. As she sees the Delta variant drive up coronavirus numbers, she’s just not sure sending him back to school is safe.
Gans joined a growing number of parents who signed an online petition demanding more virtual options. Right now, DC Public schools is offering a virtual option only for students with a documented medical need.
“It's not just a question of one kid who's sick, but vulnerable family members," Gans said. "And [DCPS] just paid no attention to it."
Martine Miller is spearheading the petition. Miller started the campaign after listening to a Facebook Live DCPS hosted with doctors from Children’s National Medical Center.
“They weren’t answering anyone’s questions and parents were upset so I reached out to them on text and What’s app and more and more parents got involved,” Miller said."We're also calling the Mayor's office, we're calling the Chancellor's office. We're not getting any replies. We're hearing nothing back and that has a lot of parents really concerned.”
Parent Brad Neumann shared his own concerns about unvaccinated students gathering together.
“They're congregating all the unvaccinated kids together and we just think the chance of them getting a COVID is highly likely," he said.
Dr. Stacy Cary-Thompson, a pediatrician and a DCPS parent, joined the group.
“None of this is easy, but I do think that it [virtual learning] is the better alternative, all things considered,” Cary-Thompson said. "I personally, I'm not prepared for more of the suffering that I think is sure to come if we continue to proceed in this premature way.”
RELATED: DC Auditor: DCPS failed to meet CDC, DC Health guidelines for COVID-19 testing of in-person students
A spokesperson from DCPS told WUSA9 they extended the deadline to apply for virtual learning with a documented medical condition and students who quarantine will learn virtually. But as it stands now, the spokesperson said DCPS cannot change the current policy – that comes directly from the Office of The State Superintendent of Education.
A spokesperson from OSSE simply reiterated the Mayor’s announcement that children will attend school in-person, 5 days a week for SY2021-2022. OSSE also highlighted that schools have invested in health upgrades to ensure the classrooms are safe for children.
“I share the two main demands of the whole group of folks that we've been in contact with: a virtual option for any family that wants it without a medical waiver, and a better plan for in-person learning - safer, better quarantine rules, more testing,” parent Becky Reina said. "Like everything else in the pandemic, it's just going to hurt our families with fewer resources more.”
As for Gans, she contacted OSSE about her plans to homeschool her son Jack.