BUFFALO, N.Y. — Members of the Buffalo Parent Teacher Organization on Thursday spoke to reporters about its position on schools reopening this fall.
To ensure the safety of students, the group is calling for a remote start to the school year. They say this will allow parents and teachers to have time to get organized and properly trained to succeed in a virtual environment.
"We want kids back in school. That's the truth, but we're not sending kids back to school if it's not safe," said Keith Jones, an executive board member of the BPTO.
The members are asking for four things in order to move forward with reopening schools: more financial support, COVID-19 testing, contact tracing, and a consensus-based plan for reopening.
The group stressed that they believe testing and contact tracing should be done through the health department.
"It should not be the responsibility of schools to be testing facilities as well," said Rachel Fix Dominguez, BPTO's co-chair.
They also raised concerns about transportation and the need for bus aids to ensure social distancing and mask usage on the ride to and from school.
Without these needs accounted for, BPTO members say a remote start to the school year is the safest option.
Fix Dominguez said, "We know this is not ideal, but neither is a pandemic."
She added that remote learning isn't easy for parents either, so the group is calling on the federal government for support.
"We believe that the federal government needs to bail out parents and caregivers too. We need support right now. We need a child care stipend so we can keep our kids safe as this pandemic rages throughout our country," Fix Dominguez explained.
The members emphasized that between now and the start of the academic year, they will continue collaborating with the district and other partners to help come up with the best plan possible.
