7,285 exposed to COVID-19. 1022 positive for COVID-19 throughout the whole school year so far. And yet, UCPS decided to end contact tracing and still not require masks at school.

15% of UCPS has been exposed to COVID-19. Still, 8 Board of Education members still chose to ignore the facts and chose their own political agenda over students’ health. 

To be honest, this feels more like an apocalyptic dystopian movie than real life. Yet, this is real. Thousands of students who were exposed to COVID-19 will return to school, affect others, and cause lots of sickness and even death. All due to another bad decision by the UCPS Board of Education.

I go to high school in UCPS and I see it myself. Students sick from COVID-19 staying home for two whole weeks. Students not wearing masks and not social distancing, potentially spreading COVID-19. And now, students that were exposed to COVID-19 flooding into schools, potentially without masks.

I am scared to go to school. I am scared to catch COVID-19, even though I’m fully vaccinated. I want a happy life where I can have school clubs and meet up with my friends and have school theater, but a school environment where kids can catch COVID puts all of that in jeopardy.

Please, UCPS Board of Education, put our fears to rest. Simply require masks in school and bring back contact tracing.