A remote start to AY 2021-22

Today is the first day of the 2021-22 academic year at Abrome.

Due to uncontrolled community spread of Covid-19 in Central Texas, we will start our year fully remote. Given the elevated number of cases at this time, bringing people together in-person poses too great a risk of exposing Learners and Facilitators to the disease, which they could then take home and into the broader community. By refusing to 'return to normal’ we inconvenience ourselves to protect each other, particularly those who are most vulnerable to the disease.

At Abrome we will continue to center the needs of those most impacted by the pandemic in our approach to the year, and we call on all education communities to do the same. If we as a society rallied in support of one another and engaged in reasonable safety practices, cases would plummet and we could enjoy being together while also having the peace of mind that comes with knowing that we are not needlessly endangering the welfare of others.

It is not too late for education communities to choose an approach that prioritizes public health. We encourage all communities to adapt, copy, or steal our pandemic plan.

First day of school for local kids (not at Abrome)

Today tens of thousands of students in Central Texas will be returning to school, joining the scores of thousands who returned to school yesterday.

While there is palpable excitement for many students who want to be around large groups of peers again, many other students feel like hostages, knowing full well that they are entering into buildings where their safety is not being taken seriously. This latter group understand that bringing large amounts of people together indoors for hours at a time greatly increases the risk of spread, even with masks. They understand that because their school populations are majority unvaccinated that the risk is amplified, and that some of them, their peers, or the teachers and staff are going to get seriously ill or die. They understand that people who get infected are going to bring the disease home to their families and their local neighborhoods. Yet they have been told they have no choice—schools will not push back the reopening dates, schools will not go remote, many schools won’t even enforce masking requirements. They are told that they must risk their safety and the safety of their community because the schooling machine requires their participation to operate. Some of them will recognize that they do not have participate. Some teachers and staff members will realize the same.

Solidarity to all the students, teachers, and staff who refuse to participate in indoor schooling at this time.