To Go or To Not Go

On March 13, 2020, Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District (PVPUSD) shut down schools in response to a parent of a PVPUSD student testing positive for the coronavirus (COVID-19). On April 26, 2021, the district reopened schools in a hybrid format and fully reopened schools for all students on Aug. 25, 2021. Currently, there are 147 positive COVID-19 cases in the district, yet schools remain open. Many students and parents alike are upset by this and have called for the return to online school, as they believe shutting down schools would be the best option to contain the virus.

One of the main reasons the virus is spreading so much faster than it did previously is due to a new strain of COVID-19, known as Omicron. Omicron transmits two to three times faster than the Delta strain because its spike protein — the region that binds to cells — makes it much easier for the virus to enter human cells than the other variants (National Public Radio). This has caused cases in the U.S. to skyrocket; during January, there were an average of 700,000 new cases per day (The New York Times). In Los Angeles County alone, as of Feb. 2, there were nearly 16,468 new cases weekly, according to the Los Angeles (LA) Times.

Despite the increase in the number of cases that has caused several colleges, including all nine of the undergraduate University of California (UC) campuses, to delay their return to in-person school, the district is determined to stay open. Superintendent Alex Cherniss sent out an email on Jan. 7 detailing that “[PVPUSD’s] goal remains to keep schools open and students in class.” Even though in-person school involves being indoors and in close contact with people for an extended period of time, most studies have shown that schools have not been a major driver of community transmission (The Conversation). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), although outbreaks in schools can occur, studies suggest that transmission levels within school settings are typically lower than or similar to that of the community when prevention measures are in place. A study of factors associated with COVID-19 infection among children and adolescents found that close contact with infected persons, attending gatherings and having visitors at home were all associated with COVID-19 infections, rather than school attendance (CDC). Thus, the CDC recommends that instead of moving online, schools should implement strategies to help lower cases while remaining in person. 

In an email sent out on Jan. 28, Cherniss shared data indicating that PVPUSD schools had an average of 95% attendance during the week of Jan. 24. Principal Dr. Brent Kuykendall attributes this to constant testing, close contacts of those infected being notified, masking policies, students staying home when they are ill and a high vaccination rate. Constant testing is the key to keeping schools open, as Cherniss has emphasized that it is “critically important to keeping COVID-19 out of our schools’.” The district has demonstrated this by making testing readily available for PVPUSD students and staff; on Jan. 14, they gave two take-home COVID-19 test kits to every student, and according to Cherniss, they continue to conduct 500 tests daily at various PVPUSD schools. In addition to constant testing, students are required to complete a green screen every morning before entering campus in order to ensure everyone campus-wide is symptom-free. Kuykendall says that the school also has a high vaccination rate, meaning that COVID-19 will not infect as many people, which will limit the spread throughout communities and will restrict the virus’s opportunity to continue to mutate into new variants (John Hopkins Medicine). Along with vaccinations, wearing a mask can help communities slow the spread of COVID-19 (CDC), and since Jan. 3, PVPUSD has required everyone on campus to wear a mask at all times. If someone on campus does end up testing positive for COVID-19, students who share classes with the infected person will receive an email making them aware of the possible exposure within a day. Sophomore Ben Leet is in support of the current measures put in place by the school to help lower the number of cases on campus.

“[The actions] the district have taken to slow the spread have [been good] in my opinion,” Leet said. “I think the green screens are pretty useless, but the rest of the measures [such as mandating masks and providing free tests daily] are helpful. Another thing schools should offer is a strong support system [for the people at home due to illness] that maybe not everyone gets.”

Even though all of these efforts have been implemented in order to help curb the spread, many residents of Palos Verdes are calling for PVPUSD to move schools back to a virtual setting, including junior Arman Omidvar. Omidvar started a petition on the website, change.org, which he titled, “Tell the Palos Verdes Peninsula School District to Return to Online School.” Many students on campus support Omidvar’s efforts to move school online; the petition that he started currently has 1,064 signatures and 54 comments, mainly from students at Peninsula supporting his sentiment. Omidvar started the petition after witnessing the stress the pandemic has inflicted on his classmates. 

“School, at the moment, poses a fundamentally dangerous environment for students in attendance and their immediate families,” Omidvar said. “Those who absolutely must stay at home face a massive divide in the quality of their education compared to those students who can attend in-person. It also seems that many students are anxious about just being at school due to the high prevalence of sickness. For many, catching the virus means the potential death of a loved one or themselves. It can be extremely anxiety-inducing to receive those dreaded close contact letters, which I myself have received five of within the last two weeks.” 

Some schools in the South Bay have attempted other methods to convince administrators to move their schools online. On Jan. 12 at Redondo Union High School (RUHS), students participated in a walk-out to protest schools staying in person. The RUHS students stated in an interview with the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) that they feel their school district has prioritized itself over students by not enforcing COVID-19 precautions that are in place to stop the spread, which has led many families to not feel safe sending their kids to school. Freshman Juliana Gregerson, whose mother is a pre-kindergarten teacher at Point Vicente Elementary School, is witnessing how many of her mother’s students do not feel safe coming to school and how difficult it is for her mom to effectively teach while making sure her students stay safe.

“For my mom specifically, the surge has been difficult to deal with,” Gregerson said. “Her class is full of children around the age of five, most of whom have trouble keeping their masks on. They also normally need close, personal instruction, but that is not possible now due to the high amount of cases. I think this surge has caused all teachers and staff to become even busier and stressed because they need to find alternate ways to [simultaneously help] their students in-person and those who are stuck at home due to illness.”

Whether schools should stay in person or go online is not an easy decision for school administrators; it is a topic of national controversy, and proponents of both sides worry about the physical and mental dangers the pandemic poses to students. For PVPUSD schools, classes are currently planned to remain in person for the rest of the school year as the district continues to monitor the severity of the pandemic.