The following is a template you might find helpful if you are a parent who does not want your child to return to the classroom in view of the present risks.

It is based on general legal advice provided to Covid Safe Schools Inc. and this letter is provided to you as a guide only and not as legal advice.

We hope it will be useful to you but please personalise the letter and seek your own legal advice to suit your particular circumstances.

Dear [insert name of Principal] I write to you to advise of an imminent and immediate risk to health and safety that my child may be exposed to.

I hold a reasonable concern that my child may be exposed to the COVID virus. My concern arises from the failure of the school to deploy the necessary multi-layered controls, in particular the failure to ensure adequate ventilation, that would provide my child with a level of protection from the COVID virus that is commensurate with the potentially serious, long-term harm that can result from an infection.

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[Two options for the following paragraph depending on your child’s vaccination status]

Overseas literature dealing with the risk to children of contracting the virus and transmitting the virus is making it clear that children and youth can acquire and transmit COVID-19 in school settings1. Medical literature indicates that there is a risk of hospitalisation should my child contract the virus – reports from the U.S. show this risk has increased significantly since the emergence of Omicron, with paediatric hospitalisation rates in some states increasing five-fold over just one month2.

A COVID infection acquired at school could adversely affect my child’s ability to participate in day-to-day activities. New research from the U.S. shows that the disease persists in the brain, the heart, the kidneys and many other organs long after the initial illness, potentially causing long term medical symptoms3.

As my child is not yet vaccinated, and with the emergence of Omicron variant, which shows evidence of spreading faster4, the implementation of a multi-layered, preventative approach to controlling COVID infection risk at the school becomes even more imperative. In the absence of adequate measures, I consider it to be unsafe for my child to return to the classroom. If community transmission rates are such that a multi-layered, preventative approach is inadequate in stopping COVID infections occurring at school, then learning from home must be an available option.

OR

Overseas literature dealing with the risk to children of contracting the virus and transmitting the virus is making it clear that children and youth can acquire and transmit COVID-19 in school settings. Medical literature indicates that there is a risk of hospitalisation should my child contract the virus – reports from the U.S. show this risk has increased significantly since the emergence of Omicron, with paediatric hospitalisation rates in some states increasing five-fold over just one month.

A COVID infection acquired at school could adversely affect my child’s ability to participate in day-to-day activities. New research from the U.S. shows that the disease persists in the brain, the heart, the kidneys and many other organs long after the initial illness, potentially causing long term medical symptoms.

While my child is vaccinated, the emergence of the Omicron variant, which shows evidence of spreading faster and of having greater immune escape properties which reduces vaccine effectiveness, makes it even more critical that a multi-layered, preventative approach to controlling COVID infection risk at the school is adopted. In the absence of a multi-layered, preventative approach, I consider it to be unsafe for my child to return to the classroom. If community transmission rates are such that a multi-layered, Vaccines-plus5 approach is inadequate in preventing infections, then learning from home must be an available option.

The School has a duty pursuant to section 19(2) of the Work, Health & Safety 2012 (TAS) to ensure the health and safety of my child so far as is reasonably practicable.

I respectfully request the School also forward me the risk assessment and all relevant documents that have been used, created or relied on to determine that the return to face to face teaching is not exposing my child to an unsafe environment. I would like to be advised of the control measures the School intends to put in place and consult with me, my representatives and others in making decisions that have safety ramifications.

Once I have considered those, I will respond to you, or seek the intervention of the regulator.

Please advise if the School has a procedure to resolve disputes, or whether the default provision in the WHS Regulations applies. I am happy to participate in genuine attempts to resolve the issue of safety at work.

Yours sincerely, [Very concerned Parent/Guardian]

1 Hyde, Children may transmit COVID at the same rate as adults: what we know about schools and COVID-19.
https://www.croakey.org/children-may-transmit-coronavirus-at-the-same-rate-as-adults-what-we-now-know-about-schools-and-covid-19/
Accessed on 01.01.22
2 CNN, New Omicron variant fills up children’s hospitals in United States https://www.9news.com.au/national/united-states-coronavirus-update-new-omicron-variant-fills-up-childrens-hospitals-in-new-york/3c8f26b5-9e0d-4f5b-8171-97394a8ec57d
Accessed on 31.12.21
3 Chertow et al., SARS-CoV-2 infection and persistence throughout the human brain and body.
https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-1139035/v1
Accessed on 31.12.21
4 Ledford, How severe are Omicron infections? https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-03794-8
Accessed on 01.01.22
5 OzSAGE, Protecting children from COVID-19: more urgent than ever. https://ozsage.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Protecting-children-from-COVID-19-more-urgent-than-ever-19-December-2020.pdf
Accessed on 31.12.2

More templates can be found here: About 1 — Covid Safe Schools