SPS new guidelines shows they do not care about students, staff, or families.
We need to return to the quarantine guidelines that were enforced at the beginning of the year in interest of everyone’s safety.
Previous guidelines were if a student was seated next to a COVID-19 positive person they would have to quarantine.
On November 12, 2020 SPS changed their quarantine guidelines. Now anyone directly exposed to COVID-19 is no longer required to quarantine, as long as both parties were wearing masks.
Countless times I have seen students improperly wearing their masks, which makes them ineffective. However, SPS will still consider that student as wearing masks. Teachers are busy and do not have a lot of time to tell the students repeatedly to wear the masks properly.
Masks when worn properly still aren’t always 100% effective. This furthermore shows why quarantine should be mandatory for anyone directly exposed to COVID-19 masked or not. According to UCDAVIS wearing a mask only decreases your chance of getting COVID by 65%,
SPS is abiding by these new rules in hopes of keeping students and staff in school.
Are people’s lives really less important than attending school? SPS thinks so.

COVID-19 case numbers are not decreasing. In this time our school has decided to loosen restrictions instead of cracking down on them.
We all have family and elders in our lives that we care for. Our school, a place of work to many, does not care about their staff or students safety and well-being.
The president of the local education union spoke out against these new rules and called them a “dangerous choice.”
The school district changed a system that wasn’t broken for their own greed. I believe, the less teachers that are quarantined, the less money they have to pay for substitutes. The teachers are not paid during COVID-19 sick leave. We have to stand up for what is right. It could literally be life and death.
Our own state governor, Mike Parsons, who first allowed these new quarantine guidelines said, “These kids have got to get back to school. They’re at the lowest risk possible. And if they do get COVID-19, which they will — and they will when they go to school — they’re not going to the hospitals. They’re not going to have to sit in doctor’s offices. They’re going to go home and they’re going to get over it. We’ve got to move on. We can’t just let this thing stop in our tracks.”
Some might agree with Parsons. Those who do are out of touch, and do not understand what it is like for those of us experiencing these new guidelines. If he won’t care about us and our families someone needs to.