Robbinsdale Teachers Union Circulates Petition to Delay In-Person Learning

Many students in the Robbinsdale School District are scheduled to go back to in-person learning this month, with the youngest learners set to go back on Jan. 19.

But the Robbinsdale Federation of Teachers is circulating a petition to interim Superintendent Stephanie Burrage that asks for students to delay going back to in-person learning until teachers have the opportunity to be vaccinated.

The petition says that once schools open, they should stay open and the only way to ensure that is to vaccinate staff first. So far the petition has more than 1,000 signatures and there’s a goal of having 1,600. See it here.

Full petition:

We call on Superintendent Dr Stephanie Burrage and Robbinsdale Area Schools to delay the reopening of schools until all educators and school staff providing in-person learning and support have the opportunity to be vaccinated for COVID-19.

Students and educators need to be back in school buildings – but it needs to safe. Vaccinations are the best layer of protection we can provide for our communities.

Vaccinating school staff will also ensure the consistency and stability our students, families and educators desperately want and need. If community spread is high and a new, more contagious strain of the virus emerges, there won’t be enough adults to staff our school buildings because they are sick or quarantining. And there aren’t nearly enough substitutes to fill those vacancies.

Let’s make sure when we open our schools, they stay open.”

-Robbinsdale Federation of Teachers

State guidance for schools changed in December, allowing elementary schools to return to in-person learning starting Jan. 18 if mitigation efforts are put in place.

School districts in the northwest suburbs announced plans to bring back in-person learning shortly thereafter, with K-2 students coming back mid-January, students in grades 3-5 returning Feb. 1. A timeline for secondary students remains varied across districts.

Education Minnesota expressed concerns about going back to in-person learning and a possible spike of transmissions due to the holidays and the partial opening gyms, bars and restaurants. Read the full release here.

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