MOSES LAKE — An open letter signed by 23 local health care providers urges members of the Moses Lake School Board to reconsider its decision to move forward with an in-person education option despite public health warnings.

“It is irresponsible to hold in-person classes at this time, and we implore you to reconsider your decision and choose remote learning only for our schools until case numbers within our community fall to safer levels recommended by the Health District,” the letter states.

Signatories included an advanced nurse practitioner, a certified physician’s assistant and 20 other doctors, including Dr. Andrea Carter, chief medical officer for Samaritan Healthcare. Carter’s support was in her personal capacity and not an indication of an endorsement from Samaritan, a spokesperson clarified.

Spearheaded by Dr. Natalie Paluch, a pediatrician with Confluence Health’s Moses Lake location, the letter follows a similar appeal submitted to the school board at its Aug. 13 meeting. Then, the district was still considering whether to approve in-person education amid recommendations from state officials and a presentation from county health officer Dr. Alexander Brzezny stating the county did not have the coronavirus sufficiently under control.

But the district voted to adopt its plan to allow parents to opt their children into one of three learning models ranging from in-person education to an all-online approach. About 33 percent of students, or around 2,613, are expected to enroll in full in-person education, while 26 percent, or 2,034, will come into the classrooms part of the week, Superintendent Josh Meek wrote in an email.

At the time, several board members, including Susan Freeman, told Brzezny that if it wasn’t safe for students to be in classrooms, it would be up to him to order the school to close, Freeman said in a Tuesday interview.

“Dr. Brzezny has the power, the authority, to close schools,” she said Tuesday. “We have one job, and that’s to educate kids, and he has one job, to protect public health, and if he thinks that ordering the schools to close is necessary, he needs to do that.”

In an interview, Paluch said that the school board made a mistake in not heeding Brzezny’s warning, and that this recent letter she and 22 others signed urged the district to change course before school begins.

“During the August 13, 2020 meeting, Grant County Health Officer Dr. Brzezny provided a presentation which clearly showed that our local COVID-19 outbreak is widespread and uncontrolled,” the letter states. “In the time since this presentation, the rate of infection has increased, meaning that it is less safe for in-person classes now than it was on August 13th.”

Opening schools despite a relatively high rate of COVID-19 across the county would jeopardize the safety of students, teachers and the community, the letter continues.

In response to a request for comment, board members Vickey Melcher, Shannon Hintz and Bryce McPartland declined to speak with the Herald, in some cases directing questions to Meek.

Meek does not have a vote on the board.

In a Tuesday interview, school board President Elliott Goodrich said that while he appreciated the concern of the letter’s signatories, he defended the plan the district is pursuing.

“I think we’re all concerned, and we want everyone to stay safe, but at the same time we understand that each child and each family is unique and different, so it’s important that families be able to decide what’s best for their children,” Goodrich said. “Parents are best equipped to make choices for their children.”

Board member Susan Freeman reiterated Goodrich’s comments, adding that the signatories may not be facing the same challenges with all-online education that working-class families do.

“I don’t want to be picking anyone out in particular, but you can extrapolate that anyone who is a medical professional probably has the means to have a nanny or a tutor for their kids, and most working families — most of Moses Lake is not that affluent,” Freeman said.

Beyond the concerns the letter raises about the health impacts of opening classrooms, it adds that other schools that have started in-person education have closed their doors soon after due to coronavirus outbreaks.

“If you open schools now, they will very likely need to be closed by order of the health officer soon after the start of school,” the letter states. “During the short time in-person classes happen, however, many more people will have already been exposed to the virus, making our number of cases much more difficult to control, and of course, threatening the health and safety of our entire community.”