School Letter to Waltz

 

Office of Governor Tim Walz                                                                                           July 27, 2020

130 State Capitol
75 Rev Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
St. Paul, MN 55155

Governor Walz:

I am reaching out to you today to express my concern about the upcoming school year and the student schedules. While we have been in isolation for most of the year now, our students are suffering very real side affects of the isolation. This week, we learned about one of our high school students passing. Our close community is absolutely devastated by this tragic event. This is a tragic side affect of social isolation which removes the students peer support group, intensifies the feeling of alienation and removes the close physical proximity of counseling resources. The continued isolation has removed summer employment opportunities, eliminated much anticipated summer sports camps and family vacations. Please consider the whole cost of continued isolation before implementing any further restriction on the 2020/2021 school year.

When speaking with area educators, we found out this week that schools that are not open in the fall are not eligible for federal dollars for education. There are real psychological, physiological and economic costs with the continued isolation which must be considered before any plan is implemented.

In Dodge County, we have been very lucky and had low infection rates. Please consider that while urban areas of the state may not have been as fortunate and may require additional protections, many rural areas of the state, such as the Kasson-Mantorville School system, will greatly suffer from a one-size-fits-all solution.

I am asking for your consideration to allow schools to return to normal. If you feel this is not appropriate state wide then please consider allowing the counties to determine what needs are present in the local areas. We feel this would be the best solution for our state and our communities.

We will eagerly look forward to your announcement this week, so we can plan for our students safe return to school.

Sincerely,

Chuck Bradford

Mayor, City of Mantorville

21 5th Street East

P.O. Box 188

Mantorville, MN 55955

mantorvillemayor@gmail.com