by BRINLEE VUOLA
Staff Writer
I’m sure by this point, you’ve heard all the talk from your teachers about going back to school before spring break and getting a chance to walk among the campus once more. Just yesterday, the Visalia Times Delta posted an article with a lot more information; this includes the fact that VUSD has been granted the “okay” to send middle school and high school students back to campus for in-person learning.
While the amount of cases hasn’t changed much in this county (although there has been a noticeable decrease these last few weeks), Governor Newsom of California is issuing a change in the red-zone of COVID-19 cases. The numbers are set to be released this coming Tuesday, and depending on what the new red-zone is, we’ll be eligible to go back to school on that Wednesday. However, some teachers are speculating that even if we were eligible to go back as soon as possible, it’d be about a week or so before actually going back, giving teachers time to prepare everything.
According to Visalia Times Delta, VUSD had only recently just finished revising a nice COVID safe plan for when these older kids come back to campus. Of course, going to school is not going to be the same as it was; we’ll be going back to track schedules and 3 hour days, giving teachers and staff plenty of time between both tracks to disinfect their classrooms properly. Social distancing and masks will be required at all times, in and out of the classroom. Hand sanitizer will always be provided. But even with all the safety precautions, I find it relieving knowing that after a hard year of being locked away in a pandemic, we’re finally getting the chance to go back to school and socialize–and socializing is something that many young kids need to keep their mental health stable.
It’s hard to tell how long we’ll be on campus for. It could be for the rest of this year, or it could shut back down in a week due to rapid infections. No matter what happens, the district will be able to say that they were able to send students back, and I know that many students are grateful for this opportunity to go back after thinking for months that it was never going to happen.