As an exercise, the journalism class broke into two groups and wrote dueling editorials: one favoring a reopening of Northwest Academy and another on why the school should remain closed for now. Here is the second feature in the series.
Distance learning has undoubtedly taken a toll on Northwest Academy students, teachers and parents in recent months, leading to an increased demand for some type of return to in-person schooling. School administrators have considered implementing a hybrid model, in which school is partially in-person and partially online.
As important as traditional learning is, Northwest Academy is simply unable to facilitate the current social distancing guidelines when operating in-person. A hasty reopening will have dire consequences. We must assess the risks that come with a transition and ensure that the school can welcome back its community without the risk of disease.
The reopening of in-person school would require strict adherence to social distancing guidelines. These rules run counter to how Northwest Academy normally operates: students squeezing by one another in the halls, huddled groups chatting around crowded lunch tables. A tight office-like environment like ours makes it difficult to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
Online learning might be more appropriate for students who can’t be expected to follow distancing guidelines, especially younger ones whose socially-starved gregariousness might override their sense of obligation to safety. Like the virus, this mentality can spread through a student body. One breach of protocol can inspire another student to think it’s okay to prioritize a friend’s amiability over their safety, and we are left with clusters of pubescent public safety hazards. This turns into a supervisory nightmare and health risk for teachers and staff, who must add the dispersal of friend groups to their ever-expanding list of responsibilities, which is as necessary as it is heartbreaking.
Even if every middle and high schooler at NWA were to simultaneously adopt an overwhelming sense of collective responsibility and social distance properly, the fact remains that social distancing isn’t enough to prevent spread. Covid-19 is an airborne virus, and while social distancing and masks help to limit its transmission and make us feel safer, nothing short of a hazmat suit can stop indoor spread (and then there’s the problem of gripping a pencil with nitrile gloves).
“I like to imagine a person smoking inside,” physics and math teacher Ryan Campbell said. “Without ventilation the smoke will fill the whole room. If the virus is concentrated enough, both masks and social distancing won’t help.”
The push to open schools as early as possible might be understandable if we had no suitable alternative to in-person education, but with modern technology that’s simply not the case. Northwest Academy has never had more options and resources when it comes to remote learning—even 10 years ago our current system would have been impossible.
While opinions vary, many NWA students have seen the good side to distance learning. Athena Gonzales, a senior, understands that given the circumstances, distance learning is a great option.
“I think our adaptability is incredible, and it’s been shown especially in online school,” says Gonzales. “I think it’s cool that we’re still able to make new friends and have fun even in an online environment. I also appreciate teachers’ patience during all of this. I think it’s definitely a needed skill with our current situation.”
Others have even found advantages to online schooling. Freshman Joey Alldrin has noticed an improvement in his work habits.
“Online school is way easier for me for grades,” says Alldrin. “I find it easier to work from home. Yet again, that’s who I am. I don’t intend to put words into other folks’ mouths, however a lot of introverts probably feel the same way.”
Even though distance learning may not be perfect, it’s definitely an acceptable substitute, especially when the alternative will endanger our entire community and their families.
On top of the safety ramifications, it’s important to consider the psychological impact a return to campus will have. School is a huge part of a student’s life, and returning to it will be a big part of re-establishing normalcy. However, with a current seven-day average of 954 cases per day, it’s clearly not safe to return to our social habits.
This fact alone should be enough to argue that schools shouldn’t open, and that doesn’t even take into account the message this will send to students. No matter what administration tells students, the decision to open school will indicate that it’s okay to go back normal: but this is just not possible with both our current Covid-19 statistics, as well as Northwest Academy’s current campus.
Jasper Selwood, a sophomore, feels that the school cannot facilitate the recommended social distancing guidelines.
“I trust all of my high school peers to wear masks essentially 100% of the time on campus,” Selwood says. “However, as for social distancing, I think enforcing a six foot separation is ridiculous and shouldn’t be implemented. If we aren’t ready to be within six feet, we aren’t ready for any type of in-person schooling.”
Another important factor to consider is student activity outside of school. Social distancing rules are easy to enforce in a school environment, but it’s impossible to control what students do when they’re not on campus. Even with Northwest Academy’s comparatively more responsible student body, there’s still a distinct possibility that one of the students will get exposed to the virus.
“I trust my classmates,” Alldrin says. “Our school knows to wear masks… [but] we should always stay overly cautious. I have no intention of going to school if there is a chance of my health being put at risk, due to the virus. I’d rather stay home for a while longer, versus putting myself and others at risk.”
One of the largest issues at hand right now is the fact none of the current Covid-19 vaccines have been approved for children under 16. Students in this category make up about half of the high school, and all of the middle school. If roughly 75% of students are unable to be vaccinated in the near future, a return to school is dangerous.
“Our school is large enough that it is a virtual certainty that someone in our community would have Covid-19 from the very moment we returned to instruction,” says Campbell.
Some staff members also said they would only feel comfortable if they themselves were vaccinated, at the very least. There are going to be a lot of risks with going back to in-person classes before everyone is vaccinated, and even if teachers and upperclassmen are immunized, the rest of the student body and their families will be at much higher risk of Covid-19 than they would be if we stick to online classes.
Photo: “A child in a medical mask during a coronavirus pandemic.” by https://www.vperemen.com is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
To the Editors,
I laud the willingness of the Pigeon Press staff and editors to take on the difficult task of editorializing both sides of an exceptionally sensitive topic.
As a member of the OHSU workforce charged with monitoring, assessing and keeping COVID transmissions to a minimum among OHSU staff, I”m privy to the transmission rates among workers, including how transmissions occur. We’ve quarantined some 450 workers for high-risk exposures (such as mask failures, exposures around aerosol generating procedures, etc) since April of 2020 and none turned positive. Transmissions between patients and providers have been exceedingly rare, largely because of careful mask use. Those staff that have contracted the virus at work almost exclusively get it when in break or lunch rooms eating in close proximity to colleagues who brought the virus into work after catching it from a community exposure themselves. The right measures, including mask use, make hospitals very safe places to be. Schools can be similarly safe: wear your mask, open the windows, keep your distance, and eat food with your mask on. Ok, you have to take your mask off to eat, so make sure you’re outside or truly all by yourself whenever the mask comes off.
Thanks to Schonfeld and Pigeon Press staff for bringing this topic up for conversation! Please keep the discussion going so that we can once again be on the same page, gather together, and enjoy one another’s company. With masks on, of course.