STATEMENT a) gH as) October 28, 2020 Open Fairfax County Schools/#openFCPS Fairfax County Parents Call for End to Theatrics and a Return To School (Fairfax, VA) — The lack of robust participation in today’s planned “sick-out” strike, which was voted on by the Fairfax Education Association (FEA) on Monday of this week, underscores our belief as parents of Fairfax County Public School (FCPS) students that most of our county's dedicated teachers support a pathway to returning to in-person education in Fairfax County. ‘Stonewalling and theatrics by the FEA, who represents only a small fraction of FCPS staff, has become an unproductive embarrassment to the county. The time for theatrics is over. Students all over this county are being harmed by the current full virtual system, despite the best efforts of the majority of our teachers who do what they can in suboptimal conditions. We continue to call on the FCPS and the FCPS School Board to provide the choice for FCPS. students to attend school in-person as soon as possible, and we call upon them to also provide a clear pathway for students to get back to five-days-per-week in-person learning. Thousands of our county's students are struggling mentally, emotionally, academically, and socially in the current system. Given the lack of in-person education since mid-March of this year there are significant and challenging learning gaps being created that, if they are not addressed soon, will not ever be filled. As a society, if we can find ways to keep our grocery stores, bars, restaurants, casinos, and beaches open, we can surely prioritize returning children to school. (Open Fairfax County Schools/#openFCPS is a volunteer-led, non-partisan, ad-hoc grassroots coalition of almost 1600 parents who came together starting in June 2020 to advocate for a choice to return to in-person education in Fairfax County Public Schools . The group’s members include parents fram all areas of Fairfax County who come from across the political spectrum and economic strata, #openFCPS does not oppose the continuation of virtual ‘school programs for students whose circumstances demand it. As a group, we remain grateful to the vast majority of teachers who are working hard and doing their best in suboptimal conditions to educate our children. Group ‘members include parents of children in all grade levels with all abilities and we are united in the pursuit of a return to five-day in-person instruction for students in Fairfax County, VA.