Earlier this week, the PW Perspective discussed how the Phase 3 proposed plan for re-opening the Prince William County Public Schools in Fall of 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic was not the most protective plan of its staff and students. Wednesday night at the Edward L. Kelly Leadership Center in Manassas, hundreds of supporters came out to let their voices be known that nothing less than going 100% virtual learning would suffice.

A sea of red shirts with the hashtag #Red4Ed swarmed the parking lot, with the honking of horns and chants of “Only When It’s Safe,” permeating throughout the vicinity, and signs held high asking the PWC School Board to consider the plight teachers, staff and students would undergo if they did not do what other school districts in Manassas, Manassas City and even the city of Los Angeles did, going virtual to reduce the spread of the virus which has claimed so many lives to this point.

Oveta Scott, a teacher at Fred Lynn and one of the advocates for virtual learning, spoke to the crowd about how there were only two teachers invited to join the Task Force that was overseeing the plan for re-opening.

“What about the custodians, what about the librarians, what about the bus drivers?” said Scott to a chorus of cheers. In addition, she invited other teachers to come and speak about some of the many challenges they faced, asking the school board to think about the dangerous environment they would be placed in if they were forced to return to schools in August.

Teressa and James, a librarian and teacher for PWCS respectively, held two signs. They spoke with our Aneesa Johnson about what the school board should do.

“We’d like them to go 100% virtual,” said James. “We took our kids out of daycare in March because it was not safe.”

Teressa added, “We love our (students), but we love our (biological) kids too.”

“One life (lost) is too many.”

Jessica, a high school science teacher, said she was there “because we should not go back until it’s safe,” and prefers a 100% virtual option. The requirements she listed on her sign were the “minimum (standard), not even safe.”

Johnson also spoke with Occoquan District Supervisor Kenny Boddye during the rally. “As the school system is the largest employer in the county, we should be protecting its employees as much, if not more than private companies would,” said Boddye. “We (PWC Government) are charging our educators, bus drivers and custodians with safeguarding themselves and our students.”

When asked if he found it acceptable for the public to safeguard schoolchildren’s health in this situation he said, “No. We must do whatever we can to protect them.”

The Prince William Education Association has been out in front of this entire situation leading the charge. We spoke with Secretary-Elect Melissa Alexander during the Closed Session.

“The PWEA stance is that we are recommending 100% virtual. We, in our statement on Friday, asked for meetings (with the school board) to answer all the questions we had. We’re just hoping that our talks will encourage them to change their mind.”

Into the early hours of Thursday morning, emotions were high as people waited for the decision to be handed down. Finally, it was, and it was decided that the first quarter of the 20-21 school year will be 100 percent virtual learning. Below is the official announcement:

“The Prince William County School Board unanimously (8-0) adopted a Return to Learning Plan that will have the first quarter of the school year as all virtual learning for most students. The first quarter will start for students on September 8, 2020, ending October 30, 2020. The goal will be to transition to a 50% capacity model in the second quarter, with the option for students to remain virtual.

Under the plan, Prince William County Schools (PWCS) will consider offering in-person services to special education students as determined appropriate by their IEP teams, and to the most vulnerable English Language Learners and students with interrupted learning, as determined to be instructionally appropriate and feasible.”

The official resolution can be read at https://www.pwcs.edu/news/what_s_new/preparing_for_the_2020-21_school_year.

#Onlywhenitssafe

Staff writers Anessa Johnson and Evelyn Etienne contributed to this article.