Over 4,000 sign petition to keep Buckinghamshire's schools closed

Hundreds of Buckinghamshire residents have signed a petition demanding that schools remain closed in Tier 4 areas to curb the spread of coronavirus.

A campaign to close schools in areas with the highest infection rates has garnered support from people right across the county.

Schools are currently closed for the festive holidays but are due to reopen for the new term in January.

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The petition on Parliament’s website describes schools as a “breeding ground” for the virus, which pupils bring back “to families who are potentially vulnerable, keeping rates high”.

Katie Louise Anderson, who started the petition, said keeping schools open means infection rates stay high which prevents families, including her own, from being together over Christmas and beyond.

She says:

“Currently I see no way of this happening unless schools close for at least two weeks, but preferably more."

As of Sunday (3/1), 1,086 people had signed the petition in the Aylesbury Parliamentary constituency, as had 1,151 people in Wycombe, more than 835 in Chesham and Amersham, 551 in Beaconsfield and 734 in Buckingham.

The petition currently has more than 175,000 signatures which means it will be considered for debate in Parliament.

You can view the petition here.

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• schools
• tier 4
• Petition
• buckinghamshire