CVHS community discusses Omicron

Since the end of winter break, Omicron cases have surged across California and the world. Some schools and universities in California have opted to temporarily send students online for remote learning, including the Hayward schools, Cal State University, and University of California. Students have varying opinions on where CVHS should go from here.

A recent poll shows that about 70 percent of the CVHS community thinks that schools should move back online temporarily. Many students feel that it would be safer for us to go back online. 

“With attendance so low anyway a lot of kids are missing out on lectures and lessons in person. A lot of teachers don’t have an online presence anymore and with so few people in class there’s almost no reason to go to class,” said senior Faye Brown. “It’s not safe anymore; people are getting Covid and a lot of these kids are vaccinated.”

“(Covid) is getting bad now and a lot of people aren’t really taking it seriously and it’s spreading,” said senior Elijah Williams.

“(School should close) only for the first few weeks. I’m pretty sure Covid is just going to rise and then go back down again because that’s what we’ve seen in other countries,” said senior Elizabeth Martin. 

“I think that it’s important that we stay in school, but I also think that the staff shortages right now are pretty bad. I think my preference would probably be to close for a week or two, even though that was what we were initially supposed to do, and then hopefully start back up because hopefully, this wave of Covid will be more condensed,” said senior Brooke Kasl-Godley.

On the other hand, staff members feel that it would be more beneficial for CVHS to stay in person. “If students and staff keep doing the right thing by maintaining distance and being extra careful, I think we should stay in person because I see my students really benefiting from being in person,” said math teacher Tagreed Badwai. 

“I don’t think that schools should shut down because of Covid; I think we should stay open because this is the safest place we can possibly be together,” said math teacher Ozzie Maynard.

There are many pros and cons to both remote and in-person instruction, though Superintendent Parvin  Ahmadi pointed out that school districts must remain open for live classes under state regulations. 

“Current legislation and the Governor’s latest order require districts to have 180 days of in-person instruction. Distance learning and hybrid learning as we had last year are not allowed. Other than in-person learning, the only other option available is through independent study as requested by a parent/guardian, which is what we have offered through the Virtual Academy,” she wrote to families.