AYA Board Letter - Aaron Sarfati

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January 2, 2022 To the Board of AYA, We are a large group of AYA parents—nearly 60 families representing more than 130 students (and counting) across all grade levels (representing nearly 1/3 of the entire school)—who are deeply troubled by AYA’s new COVID-19 policies as announced by Mr. Gorycki in his December 31, 2021 e-mail. These new, stricter policies are not supported by science or data, and they stand in sharp contrast to our peer schools in Dallas, which have all effectively returned to their pre-COVID health guidelines. And, with virtually no input from AYA parents, we are concerned that Mr. Gorycki has enacted these policies to the long-term detriment of the school we all love dearly. We ask you for three things: (1) To immediately inform the AYA community that the policies outlined in Mr. Gorycki’s December 31 email will not be enforced; (2) To return to pre-COVID health guidelines (especially optional masking) to bring AYA up to the standards set by other local private schools; (3) To meaningfully involve AYA parents in this process as it develops, including a public, in-person townhall to discuss these matters in an open and transparent process. The new COVID-19 policies are not supported by science, data, or common sense and are harmful to our children. We all want to keep our children healthy. And we believe that Mr. Gorycki has the same goal in mind. Unfortunately, the science does not support taking the drastic new measures he has prescribed. In fact, we believe the opposite is true—these new policies will not accomplish anything more than sowing division amongst the AYA community, causing students unnecessary anxiety, and harming the mental, social, and emotional development of our children. For instance, experts agree that cloth masks are largely ineffective against the Omicron variant. See here1 and here2. And studies have shown that masks are even less effective in schools: the CDC released a study of Georgia schools3 showing that masking students produced no statistically significant impact on the spread of COVID-19. It follows then that the World Health Organization4 recommends that children under the age of 5 should not be required to wear a mask, and children under the age of 12 should not be expected to wear them to the same extent as adults. Even the TEA has said5 that masks should be optional for all students. It is therefore exceedingly troubling that Mr. Gorycki has taken the opposite position and mandated that children as young as two should be required to wear a mask—with zero exceptions (“We will be strictly enforcing this rule.”)—and that “[f]ailure to properly wear a mask will be seen as a sign of unacceptable disrespect . . . .” Not only is the policy troubling, but the harshness of the tone is deeply unsettling as well. Additionally, in our opinion, Mr. Gorycki’s new policies arbitrarily preclude unvaccinated student- athletes from participating in sports. The physical and mental harm this policy will cause is incalculable and accomplishes nothing. For months, our student-athletes have been almost exclusively the only ones 1 https://www.deseret.com/coronavirus/2021/12/29/22858397/cloth-masks-stop-omicron-variant-covid-19 2 https://health.clevelandclinic.org/are-cloth-masks-enough-against-omicron/ 3 https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/08/the-science-of-masking-kids-at-school-remains-uncertain.html 4 https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/q-a-children-and-masks-related-to-covid-19 5 https://texasprivateschools.org/covid19/ forced to wear masks during athletic events, while the competition and their fans are not. Yet rather than take the sensible approach and remove masks for all, Mr. Gorycki is only going to allow vaccinated students to participate, even though they are just as likely to contract and transmit the virus as unvaccinated students. And it is unlikely that Mr. Gorycki will check the vaccination status and enforce mask wearing for the opposing teams. Ultimately, therefore, this new policy only punishes, shames, and ostracizes unvaccinated students. AYA should not be separating any of our children into "good" and "bad" groups based on any criteria, medical or otherwise. "Othering" some kids, as these policies do, does not belong in a Jewish school. AYA’s peer institutions have effectively returned to pre-COVID health guidelines. We are heartened that many other local private schools are allowing parents to retain control over the health and medical decisions of their children. Schools like ESD6, St. Marks7, and Ursuline8, to name just a few, have made masks, COVID-19 vaccinations, quarantining, testing, and reporting largely voluntary. TDSD, TTI, and Mesorah have taken similar stances as well. They respect and trust that the parents at their respective schools have the best interest of their children at heart and that parents—not administrators—are in the best position to determine what is right for their own children based on their unique circumstances. What we are asking for: a return to normalcy. We sympathize that the Board stands in the unenviable position of weighing myriad views on COVID-19 policies—often conflicting and irreconcilable. We are also cognizant of the fact that COVID-19 impacts different people in different ways, and that it has unfortunately become a politicized issue. But we need only look to what our peer schools are doing—and have been doing for months—to see that AYA stands alone in mandating such draconian measures for its students. And even the briefest of internet searches will show that Mr. Gorycki’s new policies are not universally supported by the medical or scientific communities. Since the start of COVID-19, we have individually reached out to some of you, and to AYA administrators and educators, to discuss AYA’s policies. But Mr. Gorycki’s abrupt departure from the previous status quo has left us reeling and has compelled us to unite as one group. We are concerned. We are concerned that our toddlers and young children will be forced to wear masks. We are concerned that our elementary and middle schoolers will develop anxiety over vaccination statuses. We are concerned that our student-athletes will not be able to play sports vital to their social and physical development, and even college admissions. We are concerned that our voices are being ignored. We are concerned about the future of our school. We understand that the Board authorized Mr. Gorycki to set policy in this area, but Mr. Gorycki answers to the Board. And it is the Board’s responsibility to oversee Mr. Gorycki. And so, we ask for three things: (1) To immediately inform the AYA community that the policies outlined in Mr. Gorycki’s December 31 email will not be enforced; (2) To return to pre-COVID health guidelines (especially optional masking) to bring AYA up to the standards set by other local private schools; (3) To 6 https://www.esdallas.org/academics/covid-19-protocols 7 https://www.smtexas.org/about-us/health--wellness/covid-19 8 https://www.ursulinedallas.org/about/covid19 meaningfully involve AYA parents in this process as it develops, including a public, in-person townhall to discuss these matters in an open and transparent process. Until this happens, we are taking a stand, united as one group. We cannot and will not sit idly by while our children’s future is at stake. We believe that AYA has breached its agreements with us, and we are investigating all of our options. But make no mistake, we are ready to act. We will withhold tuition. We will not re-enroll. We will not enroll additional children. We will no longer donate. We will peacefully do what is necessary to have our voice heard. We request a response to this letter by Wednesday, January 5, to allow sufficient time to place Stop Payment requests with our banks should this letter go unanswered. We say all of this with the heaviest of hearts. This is not the AYA we have known and loved for years. We want this school to succeed and to be a beacon, to lead from a place of strength in Hashem. If we didn’t, many of us would have left a long time ago. But we, the parents signing this letter, recognize that right now, AYA leadership is failing. Failing us, our community, and our children. Let us build it back up together so that it may shine bright for decades to come. Signed,