During the summertime, schools announced that they were opening back up in-person for the 2021-2022 school year. When the school made that announcement, a lot of parents were concerned about the safety of their children. “What are the protocols for my child when they go back to school?” or “What happens if there is a confirmed COVID case in the school?” were some of the many questions parents asked before school began. 

Not only were parents concerned about the safety of their children, but the students were also concerned about their safety and the people around them when asking questions like “What do I do for sports?” “What will happen during lunch?” Since school started, a lot of the concerns and questions have gone down, but they are still there. 

When interviewed, various teachers said that they felt unsure about how the school is dealing with COVID. One teacher exclaimed, “I feel that we are not informed well enough about the positive cases.” They also emphasized, “I feel I should know more since I have many risks as well.” When asked about the protocols many just stated “I do not know” or “I’m unsure.” 

Even the parents feel like they should be more informed about certain protocols for positive COVID cases. When asked, one parent stated, “I feel the school should tell us more information so I know how safe my child is.” 

When a positive case comes in, the teachers, students, and parents receive an email telling you that there is a positive confirmed COVID case. If the person who had COVID is in their class the school will send a letter home telling them that the student was in their class. 

When students are in close proximity to the person with COVID they get a letter telling them that they need to be quarantined for 10 days, and if they are showing symptoms they need to confirm they do not have COVID. 

The students feel more comfortable about COVID since school started. Some students have the mindset that “If someone in my class got COVID I can use context clues to see who it is so I’m not too worried, and we also get letters telling us.” 

There are different resources that the school provides like a daily COVID check-in or you can sign up to receive more information.