Testimony: Roundtable on Return to School
Children’s Law Center Policy Attorney Danielle Robinette testified before the DC Council’s Committee of the Whole to urge the District to ensure DC school reopening plans prioritize the concerns of students who face the greatest challenges to return to in-person learning. These include students in families with vaccine hesitancy, those who fear a return to in-person learning, fmailies who have students with disabilities, and families whose caregivers have health conditions that make them highly susceptible to the ravages of COVID-19.
With only 39 days left until the start of the school year, we encourage the District to listen to students’ and families’ concerns and act now to adapt school reopening plans to include: a trauma-informed approach to meet students’ behavioral health needs; prioritizing the needs of students with disabilities, such as by ensuring older students with disabilities are offered extended eligibility; and updating the language of the OSSE Medical Certification Form to make sure that students who may need to learn virtually in the upcoming school year are able to do so.
Read her full testimony: