Another year of Covid, another variant to contend with. Cases are on the rise at Camas High School (CHS), and many are wondering, “will we go back to online school? Are we safe here?”

The new Omicron strain of Covid is now the dominant strain in the nation. It travels faster and is more contagious than ever before. Schools across the nation are closing to get staff and students tested and they are preparing for the potential for closing and a return to remote learning, and many are concerned that CHS will follow this trend.

Camas School District (CSD) Superintendent Doug Hood stated in an email sent to all of the staff members in the CSD that “our goal is to keep our school buildings open and maintain in-person instruction to surround our young people with the caring educators and support services they need – as long as we can do so safely.”

However, many believe that school will not be safe for much longer.

According to the CSD COVID-19 Dashboard, during the week of January 2-8, a confirmed 275 students tested positive for Covid-19, as well as 19 staff members.

Outside of just the school district, the number of positive Covid cases in all of Clark County is even more shocking. According to the Clark County website, as of January 13th, there are an average of 1,679.1 Covid cases per 100,000 people. Omicron is clearly not just raging through CHS or even CSD, but all of Clark County, and even all of Washington in general.

This number is anticipated to keep growing throughout this week and with many students and staff members out sick, some think CHS returning to online school is inevitable.

Associate Principal Seanna Pitassi who is in charge of the Covid response coordination said, “I hate to say that anything is possible right now because things change so much day to day.”

Vancouver public schools have closed for three weeks as of Tuesday due to Covid cases rampaging throughout the school. The possibility of CHS closing down as well is certainly a possibility because of Vancouver’s proximity to Camas.

While school leaders have no intention of closing, students are noticing unsafe conditions in their classes. “Everyone needs to be more careful and actually keep their masks on,” said freshman Camdyn Ryan.

Sophomore Angelo Luchini said, “I know a lot of people don’t wear masks, especially [during] lunch since that’s the only acceptable time to take them off. I think teachers should get onto students more about not wearing masks during class.”

Teacher Librarian Tonia Albert said, “I think it’s pretty scary… we try so hard in here and in the classrooms and it seems like lunch is kind of a free for all.”

Child Development teacher Jill Fuller feels like the school is keeping students and staff safe through mask and hygiene requirements. “I do believe that we could be encouraging students to get tested especially after traveling and the long breaks since they’ve been with extended family during the holidays.”

The holidays combined with the highly contagious nature of Omicron mean cases are skyrocketing. The week school closed before winter break Clark County reported 273.6 cases per 100 thousand people. As of Jan. 6. there are 715.1 cases per 100 thousand, nearly tripling the confirmed cases. 

As the number of cases climbs, classrooms are emptying and everyone wonders if remote learning is around the corner. 

Junior Pyper Cruz said, “[Moving online] is not ideal, but if it’s what’s safest then I don’t mind.”

Others know they may struggle.

“I hated online school, and if we have to go back I might not be able to maintain good grades since I get distracted easily,” said sophomore Mia Sugimoto. 

What CHS leaders know is that so far trying to predict how Covid impacts school has been a gamble and nobody really knows how this will play out.