The fact that the California Government still has all schools running at full capacity and the Claremont Unified School District only now mandated masks outdoors is egregious. The extremely transmissible Omicron wave sweeping the country is no stranger to schools. According to the CUSD website, out of the 2,351 enrolled in CHS 400 students, or 17%, have confirmed cases of COVID. Everyday it seems a new student is out sick or quarantining after receiving a poorly punctuated text message telling them they were exposed.

PCR and even rapid tests are extremely limited. Though CHS offers them on Thursdays, students must wait in a line spanning the entire grass field of Cahuilla onto the sidewalk besides the parking lot before receiving a test. For many students, obtaining a test is simply not a feasible option and they must quarantine at home and miss vital school days while they have symptoms. To miss almost an entire week of school, if not more, in the weeks leading up to finals is an extremely stressful burden and a lot of teachers have failed to accommodate their students. While lesson plans continue to move forward at a fast rate, students at home are left behind and disadvantaged despite it not being their fault they were exposed to COVID.

Out of 162 students surveyed by a fellow CHS student, 118 voted yes on returning to online school or approximately 72%. Almost all the students that voted yes believed school should remain online until the cases have gone down, many having suggested 2-3 weeks. Two weeks, including limited social contact, is necessary to mitigate the spread of the virus. Understandably, CUSD doesn’t want to shut the schools for two weeks in fear of the additional school days that will have to be added at the end of the year to complete the 180 required days of schooling. Ensuring the safety of your peers and teachers by going online for a short period of time is not a big ask of the district, even if it will result in two additional weeks of school, especially considering the resources we have to make the transition smooth.

Though masks were recently mandated for outside spaces as well as indoors, sports move ahead at full speed. There have been 30 cases from CHS sports yet the basketball season continues and students play against other schools in full mask-less, superspreading glory. Basketball is not the only close contact sport continuing though; girls’ water polo and soccer also trudge on unrestricted. A one to two week hiatus for athletes and students alike from school and sports would be optimal in controlling the spread of COVID.

If Dr. O’Connor had to sub a class, that should be indicative of the state of teacher shortages our school has reached this past week. The fact that the California Government and CUSD insists on fighting tooth and nail to stay in person when the teacher and student shortages are clearly more inconvenient than going online makes little sense and needs to be changed. CHS has all the resources from last year at its fingertips. If the school administration and teachers execute it correctly and stay safe, schools could be back up and running again by the first week of the second semester. It is high time that CUSD and the California Government prioritize the safety of their faculty and students.