Text and art by LAUREN WONG
OPINION:
The stress of returning to omicron How Paly should have handled returning to school in January
M
asks up! Considering that omicron cases were exploding and winter break was just around the corner, I knew that returning on Jan. 5 would have negative consequences. It did. By bringing together people who had traveled all over the world for two weeks, the Palo Alto Unified School District blindly put student and staff health at risk. There was a dramatic spike in COVID-19 cases around Christmas, according to a graph from the Santa Clara Public Health Department proving that the increased accounts of socialization during the holidays ensured a rise in omicron cases. Despite the value of in-person learning, PAUSD should have gone remote for at least an additional week after winter break in an effort to avoid an outbreak and be more organized. Instead, classes resumed as normal and it seemed like the school disregarded the rise of COVID-19, which rose to just over five thousand cases in Santa Clara County which worried me. Within PAUSD, students received their at-home testing kits a little while after the reopening, but it would have been more
useful if they had been handed out days be- the school’s efforts to provide all stufore school restarted, because that would’ve dents with better masks from president allowed time for the school to mandate Biden’s supply of 400 million N95 masks all students to be tested either by those at- became useless as Paly students didn’t home testing kits or at a local testing facil- receive them until an entire month latity. The school would have had more con- er when the spike had largely subsided. trol over the situation by keeping track of These N95 masks, considered exactly which students are to quarantine. the most effective particle filtering I understand that Superintendent masks, could have been an asset to conDon Austin and Santa Clara County’s trolling the spread of the virus upon Public Health Department were attempt- the first few days of in-person learning. ing to keep PAUSD However, stuschools open to supdents were left to “Despite the value of port student mental find better qualihealth and academ- in-person learning, PAUSD ty masks on their ic well-being with own. But N95s were in-person learning. should have gone remote not only harder to And I also for at least an additional find, they were also understand that more expensive. resuming online week after winter break in My hope for school after the an effort to avoid an out- the future is that break would not PAUSD won’t be have been the easiest break and be more orga- afraid to take action decision given the early on next time nized.” many people against an issue like this the idea from the arises. Being more past protests against distanced learning. organized and thoughtful will have a But in the interest of public health, positive impact on the future and will PAUSD and Santa Clara County should help communities overcome not just have shown more interest in it. Also, COVID-19, but other future obstacles.
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