Presently, Kirkland, where many of the schools in Lake Washington School District are located, is the epicenter of the outbreak of Coronavirus.

As we write this, as many as 50 people in a nursing facility await testing for the Coronavirus. Many of those infected may have been out in the community, spreading this virus without knowing it. Many students might be infected, and may bring the virus to school.

The incubation period for this is simply too long to know the extent of the infection at this time.

Although the virus may not be particularly lethal to many of the students, who are young and healthy, many students are medically fragile, and this virus may be deadly to them. Also, many students go home to vulnerable adults, such as disabled parents, grandparents and infant siblings.

We do not write this petition to get out of our school work. We expect our teacher to provide us with assignments at home, and we resolve to work hard to complete those assignments while school is closed.

We also do not want to put ourselves and our parents in the position of choosing between our education and our health.

We write this petition to urge you to make the responsible decisions to keep the students, and their families safe.