Over 25 cases of covid-19 and the variants that have followed prior to it were reported at John Swett High School alone; one of those cases being a teacher at John Swett. Over 132 kids didn’t come to school the following Friday after school had come back from winter break because they feared for their safety and well-being. 

The school has not taken affirmative action to combat this issue. They’ve simply reminded students to wear their masks, contact their teachers for any absences, and keep 6 feet away; things students have been doing. Due to many students being absent and even some teachers being absent, it makes it harder for teachers who have to catch up all the students that were missing on assignments and class work.

Friday afternoon (1/7/2021), the district and Charles Miller, the superintendent, released a statement and email regarding that they would allow students who tested positive for covid be allowed back to school after a 5 day quarantine, a negative rapid test result, and with no symptoms or resolving symptoms. Though this follows CDC guidelines, it’s been proven that rapid test results are inaccurate and people could still be infectious though they test negative with a rapid test. It’s also unlikely that individuals will test negative by day 5 because covid-19 can stay in your system for up to 90 days. 

Many schools located near John Swett and in the San Francisco bay area have already decided to close down school for a few days following the new and widespread omicron variant. It’s caused U.S covid cases to soar and has left many people worrying about their health and lives.

As students of the John Swett School District, we are asking for the schools in our district to close down or move online to allow students the chance to continue school without the anxiety of catching covid and spreading it to their loved ones. We deem it unsafe and unnecessary to keep schools open right now as the omicron variant is causing a surge of cases in our country. Over 132 students have been absent from school and aren’t able to focus on their education properly because of how the district  is handling their well-being. We hope that you will give us the privilege to go online for the rest of the semester as it’s the decision that benefits all of our health and safety without jeopardizing our education.