Somerville Parents for an Equitable and Safe Opening (SPESO)

We are Somerville parents, teachers, health care providers, scientists, essential workers, and residents.

Guided by the best available science and data, and considering the extensive safety measures being put in place in Somerville Public Schools, we believe SPS can re-open safely, and that our most vulnerable students and younger learners should be back in the classroom NOW, with the rest of our students returning as soon as is supported by science.

Guided by scientific consensus, we affirm that:

• Children have a fundamental right to education.

• There are accumulating consequences to children with the absence of in-person learning, including depression, anxiety, obesity, suicidality, eating disorders, underreporting of child abuse and neglect, regression that may be irreversible or permanent.

• The health and wellbeing of educators and staff is critical to quality education, and they deserve robust, evidence-based health and safety protections.

• A return to in-person learning that includes masking, ventilation, physical distancing, universal testing, and contact tracing (all of which are elements of SPS’s safety plan) prevents in-school transmission, and protects students, educators, and staff, and by extension, their families.