Letter: Variants A Concern With Return To School For LW D210

This letter was submitted to the editor and written by Lincoln-Way East student and Frankfort resident Grant Bruninga.

New UK COVID Variant Raises Concerns Over LW210 Board Decisions

With the important decision between returning to full in-person learning or remaining hybrid, I would like to address some of my concerns about the return to in-person learning that are also shared by many of my peers.

This last year has changed every aspect of life from our own personal lives to those of the citizens in our district, our state, and our country, as well as the world as a whole. COVID-19 has claimed more lives than any pandemic in United States history and continues to claim over 1,000 lives a day. Metrics in our community have maintained a low level of cases and spread for significant time, which has been a product of hard work and diligence by each individual member as well as each individual student at school. These data though, are outdated and do not represent the true danger that our state and country are in. The UK variant of COVID-19 has been multiplying quickly throughout the U.S. and has now been found in all 50 states, including Illinois.

A recent CDC study showed that this variant is 55 percent more deadly than other variants and the existing original COVID-19 variant that is currently the dominant strain. The UK variant though, is very quickly replacing the original strain of the virus as the dominant one, making virulence and death more likely as the virus continues to spread. Very few students within my school have had the opportunity to be vaccinated and will not have this opportunity until the middle of April, at the very soonest, making their second dose in the middle of May, when school is ending.

Although many of our teachers have been vaccinated, vaccinated individuals can still carry COVID-19 virus and pass it on to others not to mention the growing number of other concerning variants that have made our current vaccines less effective. Therefore, the increased risk that the new strain presents us, in the face of the risk we were already willing to take on to continue our education, pushes the envelope too far. In no way, shape, or form should students be forced to choose between their education and the health and safety of themselves and their family members.

By returning approximately 3,000 students to the building plus the existing staff members, this decision will create a petri dish for the spread of disease as well as quarantine for both students and staff, drastically reducing the quality of education that we will receive, especially as AP classes are starting the final push for review and success on the tests. The increase of students coming to the school in addition to relaxed restrictions will cause many students to quarantine during this vital time in their studies for college credit on their AP tests. Acellus, while a good option for some, leaves out this very common concern amongst the student population, especially upperclassmen who are taking almost exclusively AP classes.

At this time, it does not make sense for students to return to full in-person learning after spring break, especially after spring break vacations and the susceptibility of interstate travelers to contract the virus at airports and hotels. Just because the CDC added new guidelines to help schools that were able to accommodate reopening to full in-person learning does not mean every school is ready to do that.

I believe that schools in the Lincoln-Way district house far too many students for this to be possible as the new organization of desks for in-person learning have already been laid out in some classrooms, with chairs within 2 inches of the desk behind them, as though the pandemic had never happened.

The potentially life-altering effects of this disease on an individual’s longevity are not something to be taken lightly, and as it has played out in various states across our nation, opening and relaxing restrictions too early have had very deadly consequences. 80 percent of my peers and I do not want to see our district go down this same path, and be forced to try to cope with yet another new and more dangerous learning environment this late in the school year with just a mere two months remaining.

After the last board meeting, we can see that Joseph Kostek and Aaron Janik do not listen to students or our concerns regarding our health and safety. With the upcoming election on April 6, we have the chance to make our voices heard in a way that no one can ignore. With this being said, I acknowledge that many decisions do not reach the level of life or death, but I truly believe that this decision is one that is very deserving of the title.