COVID-19 is still present almost two years later: What are schools doing about it?

Olyvia Hoard

“COVID-19 [not only] affected my grades but also the way I interact with people after being alone in my house for ten days,” sophomore Azora Parks said.

The Ingham County Health Department has provided many guidelines related to COVID-19 that schools are required to follow. 

If an unvaccinated student comes in close contact with someone who has COVID-19, it all depends on how close they were to the other student or adult.

In situations of close contact, unvaccinated students have the option to quarantine for 10 days or quarantine for 7 days and then get tested. They could also get tested every day for 7 days before school starts. 

Fully vaccinated people and people who had COVID-19 in the last 90 days are not required to quarantine after close contact, but those who are vaccinated are advised to get tested, according to the Ingham county school COVID-19 guidelines.

When teachers are exposed, they are given various options. If they are vaccinated, they are able to watch their symptoms, but if they are unvaccinated, they must follow the same protocol as students.

HOW ARE TEACHERS HELPING STUDENTS?

Many teachers aren’t providing useful resources for quarantined students. Multiple students’ grades dropped because they weren’t able to turn in the assignments their teacher had assigned to the class. 

“Some of my teachers didn’t email me back when I emailed them while in quarantine, which brought my grades way down since I didn’t have much help,” Said senior Yarley Cervantes

Since school has completely gone away from doing virtual school, most teachers are not providing the resources necessary to succeed in their classes. 

“I’m giving them paper copies of the work we’re doing in class,” math teacher Sarah Korff said. “They are still required to go on Google Classroom to do their work if they don’t get paper copies from the office.”

While some teachers are using resources from last year, including things like prerecorded lessons, others are leaving students completely stranded when it comes to their work. 

“Because of last year, I have a plethora of resources now [for students],” U.S. history teacher Corey Baird said.

HOW ARE STUDENTS AFFECTED?

New teachers appeared in the building at the start of 2021—many who don’t have experience recording their lessons. Because of this, students with those teachers are left with no clue how to do their school work when they are at home, quarantined.

“My grades went down a lot,” freshman Grace Lackey said. “It was harder to turn in my work because I didn’t really know what was going on.”

Multiple students have had a similar experience.

The administration is confident in the precautions that they have taken so far.

“We talk to the health department on a regular basis, and that’s a huge benefit for us as a school district,” high school principal Jeff Trapp said. It is apparent that more could be done to help students and teachers alike with handling COVID-19.