Building Safety Outreach

See all of our information and action steps related to Building Safety and Reopening Schools during COVID.

Who to Contact

When contacting city council, we suggest contacting the member representing the district where you live or work, and at least one at-large member. You can write separately to the Board of Education, or you can cc them on your email to council.

• Contact information for city council (email and phone)
• General Board of Education contact: schoolboard@philasd.org / (215)400-4010
• Individual Board of Education member email addresses
• Feel free to also CC us on your emails! parentsunitedphila@gmail.com

What to Say

Here is a sample script/ language you could use for your calls or emails. We suggest editing this to reflect your own thoughts and style, if you have time and capacity to do so.

Hello _,

I am a [constituent in your district/ city resident/ parent/ educator at a school in your district] and I am very concerned about the current plan for reopening School District of Philadelphia schools for preK through 2nd grade students.

As of right now, the district has not shared enough information with the PFT environmental experts and with the public to give me the confidence that it is safe for any students or school staff members to return to buildings.

Our demands are:

1. Every school room that will have kids, teachers or staff in it for any purpose must have its ventilation plan and other safety measures approved by PFT;
2. Every school staff member who wants or needs to be vaccinated can do so before going back into the classroom;
3. There is a clear COVID testing and contact tracing protocol laid out for parents, teachers and others that reflects the current best practices and up to date guidance based on new variants and that allows for the fast release of data and information about COVID rates within and across schools once buildings reopen;
4. Immediate changes to district and Board of Education processes and policies that allow for increased transparency, two-way communication, and real community engagement moving forward.

The acceptable amount of illness or death in a school community due to COVID-19 is zero. We need immediate action to keep our students, families, educators, and school staff safe.

Thank you,

YOU!