With the recent rise in COVID-19 cases, some schools are making the switch back to remote or hybrid learning, which for many, is an unwelcome regression to the beginning of the pandemic.  Our school followed a similar path for the week following winter break, giving students the choice to go remote until Jan. 11, when the school board decided not to extend the virtual option.  Due to the detrimental effects of remote learning on the student population and how far the school and general world has come in COVID-19 preparedness, this was the right choice: remote learning should not have been extended in order to return schools to some semblance of normalcy.

Anxieties over COVID-19 are warranted, considering the deadliness of the original strain and the Delta variant.  When these two strains were dominant, remote learning was definitely a safer option, especially given that until the spring of 2021, vaccines were unavailable to most of the US population.  However, the Omicron variant, which according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Nowcast Variant Tracker accounts for approximately 95 percent of U.S. COVID-19 cases as of Jan. 1, generally results in less severe symptoms than the Delta variant, which comprises only about five percent of reported cases. 

The school is also a comparatively safer place than it was back in the spring of 2020.  For starters, vaccines are available for the entire high school population, and the CDC now recommends a third “booster” dose of the Pfizer vaccine for anyone aged 12 and older.  Additionally, proper mask protocol is shown to be effective at keeping the disease from spreading, and is currently being enforced by school officials.  The school is a controlled environment where people can be identified quickly if they are a close contact of someone who tests positive for COVID-19 and appropriate quarantine measures can be implemented.  Remote learning also does not change students’ decisions to gather in places where mask wearing or social distancing are not enforced, which is where students are most at risk of getting infected.

“The school is taking plenty of precautions for COVID-19.  We all wear our masks and fill out our health forms.  We aren’t getting COVID during school hours; we’re getting COVID because of the choices we’re making outside of them.  Extending remote learning isn’t actually going to protect our health.  Instead, it puts a burden on teachers and worsens learning overall,” said senior Natalie Parker.

Remote learning is not only a minimally effective solution to the issue of student COVID-19 cases, it has detrimental effects on academic performance and mental health.  On Jan. 7, the California Department of Education (CDP) released the results from the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP), a series of standardized tests designed to measure student academic progress.  Results from the CAASPP indicate that while students made progress in Math and English Language Arts during the 2020-2021 school year, this progress was much slower than in previous years, and a widening achievement gap is noticeable.  Student mental health is another point of interest, with several studies finding evidence that remote learning puts strain on student wellbeing.  These issues are evident even within the confines of Port Washington.  Teachers are upset at the lack of effective studying or learning habits in their students and students are equally as distressed.  Remote learning is not as effective as in-person instruction.

“I felt really disengaged when I was a remote learner.  It’s extremely hard to focus after looking at a screen all day, and the quality of education is just not the same as being in person, as there is an inevitable disconnect between the classroom and the student,” said senior Sophia Lee, who was remote for the majority of the 2020-2021 school year.

With the limited impact on students’ exposure risk and major impact on student learning and mental wellbeing at this point in the pandemic, an extended remote option has more dire consequences than benefits.  However, remote learning should remain for students who need to quarantine—including those who test positive, are close contacts of others who have tested positive, or if a more severe variant becomes widespread, makes sense.  Although keeping distance learning as an option is a good idea, the focus should be on making the in-person school experience as safe and enjoyable as possible.