To superintendent Polly Bove, the FUHSD board, Santa Clara Public Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody:

With COVID-19 cases rising across the United States, the risk of transmission has become a lot higher amongst students and staff in the FUHSD district. Many students and their families have traveled to various distant locations over the holiday break, further increasing the risk of infection. In the last week, there have been 25 confirmed cases in Cupertino High School alone, with no significant changes to any COVID-19 policies. There have also been instances of teachers and students not following safety precautions. This has resulted in great concern amongst students and parents regarding the uncertainty of the Omicron variant of COVID-19. The goal of this petition is to reevaluate school policies and consider remote learning temporarily to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and keep our community safe! To achieve this, FUHSD administrators should be made aware of this issue and the Santa Clara Public Health Officer should reevaluate in-person schooling policies within the county and make appropriate changes.

Recently, Santa Clara County has had around 2,000+ new cases per day on average over the last 7 days, which is the highest so far in the past two years of the pandemic (Source 1). The cases confirmed in this past week have contributed to 10% of all cumulative cases in Santa Clara County since March 2020. Keep in mind that these are just positive test cases of those who went to get tested. Due to the lack of testing equipment and the COVID-19 incubation period being up to 14 days, it is very likely that there are many more cases already. The trajectory is exponential even with a vaccination rate of more than 80%. This is alarming as new cases continue to increase within a relatively fully vaccinated group. If nothing changes in regards to policy, positive cases in our district could reach hundreds and potentially reach a thousand or more. FUHSD has over 10,000 students and their families which are being put at risk by the current in-person system. However, if remote learning is implemented, this will help reduce COVID-19 spread not just in school, but in general. There are different approaches the school could take to help alleviate the situation.

FUHSD schools should move to remote learning temporarily for 3 - 6 weeks or until COVID-19 numbers decrease, as the Omicron variant of SARS-COV-2 continues to spread. During the 2020 - 2021 school year, teachers and students were in a remote learning model. This means teachers have experience with teaching remotely while students understand the implications of remote learning. This means the transition to remote learning will be a lot smoother this time than in the past. In addition, universities and school districts have already implemented remote learning temporarily (3 - 6 weeks) which shows the plausibility of implementing such models. Students will be able to better engage with staff members as they have a semester of interaction with school staff. Remote learning should also replicate an in-person school day to prevent major changes in student schedules. Remote learning would allow students, teachers, and parents to feel a sense of ease from pandemic-related stress. Numerous studies corroborate the fact that stress related to safety concerns of in-person schooling negatively affects mental health, which in turn could lead to lower academic performance. (Source 2) Additionally, students who may be experiencing symptoms and those who are quarantining could easily access the learning material. To not fall behind in coursework, some students who may have been exposed to COVID-19 may choose to go to school despite the risks. Remote learning would effectively prevent this from occurring. 

Another option would be a hybrid model, similar to the system implemented in April 2021. This would allow a limited number of students to be on campus, drastically reducing the chance of infection. Students whose families may be more at-risk can stay home in order to not endanger their family members. Hybrid learning would still allow students to still meet on campus and socialize in person, which promotes mental health, as peer interaction is crucial to healthy development in the stage of adolescence. If remote learning is not an option, COVID-19 regulations currently in place for in-person schooling must be upgraded and strictly enforced. Highly efficient masks such as N95 and KN95 masks should be required to be worn by all students and staff members. (Source 3) During brunch and lunch, students should be instructed to eat outside and at least six feet apart from each other. All students and staff members on campus should be tested for COVID-19 regularly in intervals of one to two weeks. Currently, the regulations are not strict enough to protect students against the Omicron variant. 

This petition was started by Cupertino High School students and we urge you to help by signing this petition. The health and safety of students should be of our utmost concern. With the resources that FUHSD has, we can retain the high-quality education that FUHSD provides. We welcome any students, staff, parents, and community members to sign this petition to protect our community.

If you would like to help further, you can share this petition with friends and family and reach out to our Santa Clara County Public Health Officer (Michele.Seaton@phd.sccgov.org) and FUHSD board (polly_bove@fuhsd.org). 

If you would like to reach out regarding the petition, please email: jli323@student.fuhsd.org (Jeff Li, petition manager). We welcome any suggestions or criticisms.