Public safety in Lake County schools

As a teacher who served the families of Lake County for 26 years, I have strong feelings about public safety in our schools.

Our duty is to ensure that our students, families, and district employees are all safe. That is our very first objective. Until our young people are safe, they cannot learn. Since the beginning of COVID-19, Lake County has lost 113 people to the deadly virus. Nationally, over 1,000 people per day are killed, almost all of whom are unvaccinated. I personally have lost two friends.

During this highly contagious pandemic it is dangerous and foolish to let down our guard. Misinformation and wishful thinking must never drive decision-making, especially when decisions we make may cost the lives of others.

Consider districts’ potential liability if the unthinkable should happen and a child would die from COVID contracted at school. Are school boards prepared to take both the blame and the financial responsibility? We’ve taken serious steps to protect kids from peanut allergies and pink eye. Surely we must continue to keep coronavirus away from all of our children, from the most robust to the most fragile.

One way to ensure student safety is to keep a masking and testing protocol in place with an opt-out for students who have been vaccinated. This way, families who object to vaccination for any reason may continue to safely send their children to school, while vaccinated children are liberated from masks.

Please listen to the advice of the overwhelming numbers of doctors, scientists, and public health officials whose jobs are to defend the health and safety of us all.

I humbly beg all of Lake County’s school districts to do everything in their power to protect our cherished children.