Since returning from winter break, I’ve noticed people in my classes disappearing one by one. I’ve heard rumors of this person having COVID-19, and that person having COVID-19, and every day I feel it getting closer to me. Each morning before I enter school, the same thought crosses my mind: will today finally be the day that I bring home COVID-19 to my immunocompromised mother? 

As I grow increasingly paranoid about COVID-19 at school, millions of other students across the country do as well. With the sharp rise in cases, specifically those of the Omicron strain in recent months, national debates over whether schools should go online again have ensued. Locally, King County saw a record-breaking increase in COVID-19 cases at the height of Omicron’s spread, displayed through a 97% increase in COVID-19 cases from the last week of December to the first week of January. And in the heart of Renton, which saw an 107% increase in COVID-19 cases in that same time frame and an 186% increase in hospitalizations, sits our school. 

King County is now experiencing a 27% decrease in COVID-19 cases and a 17% decrease in deaths in the past 7 days, but we still saw 3,168 daily average cases, 5 daily average deaths, and 59 daily average hospitalizations in that same period. In perspective, these statistics show that COVID-19 is still spreading—and it’s spreading fast. 

With this in mind, it makes sense that people are debating the future of our schools as the pandemic continues. On one side, there is the argument for our physical health, pushing for the closure of schools. But on the other side, there is the argument for our mental health, keeping schools open. 

From summer 2019 to summer 2020, the United States saw a 22.3% increase in average weekly emergency department (ED) visits for potential suicides for children twelve to seventeen years old, and from winter 2019 to winter 2020, average weekly visits for that same group and reason rose 39.1%. Most shockingly, though, is the statistic for ED visits for suspected suicide attempts in girls aged twelve to seventeen. During winter 2021 in comparison to winter 2019, visits rose by 50.6%. 

And to wrap all of that up in a way that’s easier to digest, mental-health related ED visits in 2020 made by those within the range of twelve to seventeen years old rose 31% in contrast to 2019. While scientists haven’t confidently said that this pattern is a direct result of the pandemic and online schooling throughout the country, it’s hard not to make the connection. 

But even without statistics, the majority of students are familiar with the toll that the pandemic can take on a young adult’s mind from first-hand experiences, with 70.2% of Liberty students attesting to their mental health being negatively impacted by the pandemic.* With isolation from friends we used to see every day, endless hours to wade through toxicity on social media, and never-ending distractions from learning, it was inevitable that the pandemic and online school would cause destruction. Anxiety, depression, and eating disorders are just a droplet in a vast ocean of issues that students have experienced throughout the reign of COVID-19.

It can also be easy for some students to forget that not every student is lucky enough to have a safe or comfortable home environment. Quarantining at home with abusive or absent family members, without resources to attend online school, or without money to afford lunches is all too common. Liberty has worked to combat the last two problems by providing laptops, internet hotspots, and free lunches to students throughout the pandemic, but the first issue isn’t in the school’s hands. For students with situations like these, school can be a safe space and an escape; school is a necessity.

To protect the mental health of students, schools must stay open. But to protect the physical health of students, we must introduce another option. 

Online schooling of some sort needs to be available for certain students—those that are immunocompromised, have vulnerable family members, carry symptoms of COVID-19 and haven’t been tested yet, and a handful of kids with other exceptions. And this isn’t just my opinion: 93.5% of Liberty students agree that online schooling should be provided for those in need.* For kids with the exceptions mentioned above, school is a terrifying place to be right now. And that’s the exact opposite of what school should be. 

When someone’s safety feels threatened by their school, it’s only right for them to stay home. But this is easier said than done, as there is currently no alternative for in-person school. We’ve done online school before, and it was hard, but it was also doable. So let’s do it again—but this time only for the students who need it. Let’s not punish our students for fearing that they may get sick in a global pandemic when 82.5% of them have friends or family who have gotten sick this school year.* 

To further protect the Liberty community from spreading and receiving COVID-19 , I propose the re-introduction or introduction of several protocols at Liberty. First, I’m seeking a reinstallment of sanitization protocols in classrooms, attestations and temperature checks upon entering school, contact tracing and exposure notifications, social distancing within classrooms through the separation of desks, and better options for outdoor lunches. 

At the beginning of this school year, my teachers had me sanitize my desk at the end of every class. 

That protocol is now gone. 

At the beginning of this school year, I received emails when one of my classmates tested positive for COVID-19.

Also gone. 

In the end, Omicron doesn’t care about your vaccination status, Omicron doesn’t care about your family, and Omicron doesn’t care about you. So in response, we have to care about IT. This means wearing KN-95s, even around those who are vaccinated and presumably negative for COVID-19, re-implementing COVID-19 protocols like contact tracing and social distancing at school, and yes—providing an online or hybrid option for students who can’t place education as a higher priority over the health of themselves and their loved ones. COVID-19 isn’t over, so our modified learning can’t be either. 

*based on a survey of 292 Liberty students