Considering that COVID-19 cases are at an all-time high as of Monday, with 13.6 million in the United States alone, it’s startling to consider that NASH almost resumed hybrid in-person learning this week. 

The school called off in-person learning for this week at 5:30 on Tuesday morning (Monday was a remote day), but other schools in the district did not have the same fate. All elementary and middle schools reopened, and NAI attended hybrid learning on Tuesday before getting shut down for the rest of the week.

“The kids seemed a bit apprehensive,” NAI English teacher Mr. Hull said.

Freshman Evie Disque noticed the large number of kids who opted to stay home.

“There were barely any people at school,” Disque said. “All of my classes had at least three people quarantined or staying at home.”

On Tuesday, Allegheny County reported a 28.8% positivity rate. A positivity rate is the number of positive tests out of the total tests performed. 466 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Allegheny County as of Tuesday, along with 137 probable cases.

According to the CDC, if a county has over 200 new cases per 100,000 residents within 14 days, a school district within that county has the highest risk of transmitting COVID-19. Within the last seven days, Allegheny County has reported 200 new cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 people. 

In addition, the PA Department of Education recommends that if a county has at least 100 cases per 100,000 people, then a school district should be fully remote.

In light of such stark numbers, it’s hard to understand why NA has not gone full-remote.  In fact, it’s enough to make students and their families ask if the primary concern of the School Board and the district administration is the safety of the community.

Sure, I agree that attending school in-person is the optimal scenario, but it’s simply not safe right now. Students and staff cannot and should not go to school when it’s this dangerous. 

I get that students feel pressure to attend their more difficult classes in person, too. Remote learning is difficult for students and teachers alike. There are many potential distractions, and it’s easy for students to stray off task.

Moreover, attending school from the isolation of our homes may entail much heavier dangers associated with our emotional well-being.

But our school administration has essentially put students in the position of asking, “Do I want to enjoy school or stay safe?” That’s simply not a fair choice.

Furthermore, though many reports claim that schools are relatively safe, there are still safety violations. Social distancing is not strictly enforced, car-pooling to and from school is rarely done with masks on, and some sports teams have not been optimally observant of safety guidelines when players are not in action.  Additionally, since the start of the school year, some students and teachers have been wearing face shields instead of masks, though the CDC has stated that a face shield is not an effective substitute for a mask. 

In fairness to the district administration and School Board, it was good to see a policy update last week that no longer allows face shields to be worn in place of masks.

Nevertheless, it saddens me that the issue of reopening school is even up for debate. It makes me angry, even, that we consider putting people’s lives at risk all to go to school.  Ultimately, it comes down to a question of priorities.

An open school cannot avoid the exchange of germs. Once you are exposed to someone, you’re exposed to everyone else they’ve been in contact with. 

Neighboring school districts have realized the risk and used public health data to make the logical decision to temporarily close.  Fox Chapel Area School District has had an estimated 35 cases this year, and they recently moved to fully remote learning. North Allegheny has had 95 cases and is still partially open.  Fox Chapel’s percentage of estimated cases (.8% of their students) is smaller than North Allegheny’s (1.1% of our students). 

Fox Chapel is merely one example of a district that is satisfactorily prioritizing student safety, but it’s not difficult to find others.  Pine-Richland is fully remote until the new year, as are Seneca Valley and Mars.  So what’s stopping us?

The potential openings of both high schools this week were preposterous and reckless. It practically defies belief that, starting next week, students in kindergarten through fifth grade will return to school five days a week.

By February of 2021, COVID-19 is predicted to claim over 415,000 thousand lives in the US. That number is more than the totality of US soldiers who died in World War II.

I don’t doubt that some members of the leadership team in this district agree with my position.  But this virus is so serious that everyone in a decision-making capacity needs to be united.

As for my fellow students, I encourage you to do your part and stay home these next few weeks if you have the option to. Stay home so that your classmates, teachers, bus drivers, custodians, and cafeteria staff don’t get sick and suffer. We all know the sacrifices we have to make to fight this pandemic, and it’s time we renew our commitment to them.