At least three D.C. councilmembers are urging D.C. Public Schools to adopt more COVID-19 protection measures before students return to classrooms on January 5.

In two separate letters (and one tweet thread) on Friday, At-Large Councilmember Elissa Silverman, Ward 1 Councilmember Brianne Nadeau, and At-Large Councilmember Robert White (who is also running for mayor) called on the school system and DCPS Chancellor Lewis Ferebee to ramp up testing and provide better face masks for students and staff, among other measures.

“Wednesday will be an incredbile challenge in certain schools,” wrote Silverman. “Chaos on Jan. 5 will only further erode trust and confidence of students, parents and teachers. I don’t think that’s what we want.”

On Wednesday, December 29, Ferebee and Mayor Muriel Bowser announced that every staff member and student at a DCPS school will be required to report a negative COVID test before coming back to school after the break. This followed an earlier reccomendation that students test before returning to classrooms in January. On Dec. 20, Bowser delayed the start of the school year from Jan. 3 to Jan. 5, to allow students and staff time to test.

But the councilmembers say more needs to be done to ensure that the return to school runs smoothly.

“I share your strong conviction that our students need to get physically back to the classroom; where we differ is that I am not confident DCPS has the resources and practices in place to keep everyone safe while COVID-19 is surging,” Silverman wrote.

All three are calling for more testing beyond the test-to-return mandate. Nadeau and Silverman asked for a test-to-stay program, a strategy that allows close contacts of an individual who has tested positive to remain in school if they continue to test negative. It’s a protocol designed to avoid quarantining large groups of students or entire classes. White also mentioned upping the system’s testing capacity, but didn’t explicitly outline a plea for test-to-stay protocol. Nadeau and Silverman also noted that HVAC systems need to be inspected for assurance that they are all functioning properly, and Nadeau’s letter suggests moving all unmasked activities outdoors.

White, who noted that his list of demands was “not exhaustive,” based on what he has heard from parents and teachers, urged Ferebee and Bowser to be clear about what metrics would trigger school closures, and for the city to provide virtual learning equipment in the case that schools move to remote learning.

All three lawmakers want the system to provide a KN95 mask to every student and staff member, and said that the system needs to provide more in-school resources for administrators and principals who are strapped for help — like volunteers to handle mask distribution and testing.