A letter from Arlington Education Association President Ingrid Gant is going viral after a social media user and her children edited the document, which featured errors including awkward sentences, homophone confusion, punctuation mistakes, and formatting problems.
“On behalf of the members of the Arlington Education Association, this dire expression lends great concerns for Arlington Public Schools (APS) return plan for January 3rd, 2022,” the first sentence of the letter states, according to a copy shared by Arlington Parents for Education, a group that advocates for APS to have in-person instructions.
“Oh, the grammar in this press release! 
I’m going to print this out for my #homeschooled 9yo to correct,” @ellenfgallery wrote.
Oh, the grammar in this press release! 😂 😂 😂 I’m going to print this out for my #homeschooled 9yo to correct. https://t.co/HCbqTzLBpn
— ellengallery (@ellenfgallery) December 30, 2021
Her proposed edit of the first sentence is, “On behalf of the members of the Arlington Education Association (AEA) I express concerns for Arlington Public School’s (APS) return plan for January 3, 2022.”
Social media users enjoyed the irony of the errors in official communication from a teachers’ union local. The December 30 letter warns of rising COVID-19 case numbers. It calls for testing of all students and staff members before school begins, or for virtual learning to be held until January 18. The letter also highlights the risks of unmasked meal times.
The letter states, “While lunch mitigation plans may have worked in fall weather, APS is embarking on a system wide super-spreader event during the first cold and/or rainy days upon return. Indoor lunch, even among asymptomatic students and staff are significant risks (and one risk too many). At this time APS has no efficient way to mitigate consistently, against the highly transmissible omicron variant.”
Gant and the AEA did not respond to requests for comment.
“Hey @VEA4Kids, are you going to send out more of these grammar worksheets over break? My kids and I had a great time spotting errors! Did we find them all?” @ellenfgallery wrote.
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Eric Burk is a reporter at The Virginia Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
