Despite the constant rise of COVID-19 and Omicron cases in LA County, district officials have ignored requests to return to remote learning, and have directly threatened the health of everyone in Claremont. It's important for us to remember that COVID-19 and the new Omicron Strain are highly transmissive, and it's easy for the disease to spread. The new Omicron strain  has affected Claremont High School greatly, and as such, a record number of students as well as teachers are testing positive for COVID-19. In very recent news, a new strain inheriting traits of both the Delta variant and the Omicron variant has appeared. This new strain has a chance of causing an unforeseeable danger to the faculty and students of CHS, as it might be as contagious as the Omicron variant and as deadly as the Delta variant.

Our school is making students stay in school during one of the greatest COVID-19 surges which threatens a lot of restrictions and guidelines! Not only that but they are reducing the quarantine period to 5 days, which will only cause confusion and stress because students will have to risk contaminating others by not taking the full time to recover from the virus. We are requesting the school to keep the safety of their students and the Claremont families in mind. We are not requesting online to be mandatory, but there are students that are feeling obligated to go to school despite fearing the virus. We only request that students are not forced to attend school!

Although there was an option for students to stay online at the beginning of the year, many advanced classes were not offered in the course. Many students and parents also could not foresee such a variant taking society by the grasp in the near future. 

The administration has taken steps to try to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Despite their efforts, COVID-19 is still going to be spread during lunch when students are eating without their masks on. Although there have also been a huge number of cases being tested daily, many more have slipped under the radar as it is not possible to be able to test the entirety of the student body and that many asymptomatic transmitters are still attending school. Students who also partake in the school sports teams are also highly susceptible to contracting and transmitting the Omicron and Deltacron variants, a mutation of the Omicron and Delta variants, as cardiovascular and aerobic activities are barred by the use of the mask. Student athletes take off their masks during practices, and the levels of contact that range through the sports would increase exposure between the students of our school and of other schools. 

Students also currently do not have a means of keeping up with classes if they are to quarantine at home because they are infected, experiencing symptoms, or are sick. There are currently no resources provided to the students who are absent from school, such as remote classes to help the students keep up while home.

We the students, in order to form a safer, more healthier Claremont, invoke our right as students of this administration to speak out against the clear apathy towards our health and demand and demand a CHOICE to protect ourselves and our families by returning to online school. (If it is not the Claremont Unified School District’s decision to migrate online, then surely it is the district’s responsibility to step up to the LA County and demand a voice for their worried students)