With students and teachers returning to High School 1327 (HS 1327) in the next couple of months, COVID-19 safety has become an urgent concern. The Tamalpais Union High School District (TUHSD) is enforcing many new safety measures to ensure all staff, students, and their parents will remain safe from the virus. 

When back at school, masks will be required at all times, except when eating six feet apart from each other outdoors. Upon entering and exiting classrooms, students must sanitize their hands. It is recommended that everyone on campus wash their hands frequently, even if they’ve sanitized. 

HS 1327 Assistant Principal Nate Severin stated that one of the ways in which students will be kept safe from COVID-19 is by keeping students on campus at lunch. This way, teachers can monitor that students will be compliant with COVID-19 safety protocols. 

Another drastic change for the students’ lunch break will be assigned lunch areas throughout the school. If enforced, HS 1327 staff can monitor that all students are staying six feet apart while eating.

“There’ll be three areas for students to eat [during lunch] … the baseball field, the football field, and the advent quad,” Severin said. 

Severin explained that students will also have to fill out a health screening each morning before arriving at school using the app Parent Square, found in the TUHSD portal. The form will be used for contact tracing in the event that a student begins showing symptoms of COVID-19. 

With the new safety protocols being enforced, many teachers are feeling more comfortable with the return to on-campus learning.  Severin says that he feels safe returning to HS 1327 because he knows that the administration is doing everything they can to keep students and staff safe.

“To me, the thing that makes me feel most safe about coming to school is that we are doing everything we can to keep people six feet apart,” Severin said. 

Natasha Krick, a math teacher at HS 1327, described what her classroom will look like when in-person school resumes.

“All desks will be spaced 6 feet apart facing the same direction.  Normally my students sit at shared desks and work together in pairs or groups a lot, but that will not be possible,” Krick said. 

Additionally, the teacher’s desk will have plexiglass around it and will be in the front of the room. Teachers will not be able to walk around the class. 

“I will likely be sitting at my desk writing under a document camera and talking to in-person students and at-home students via zoom, rather than walking around the room as I normally would,” Krick said. 

While many parents, students, and teachers are concerned about their safety even with new protocols, Krick says she is not. 

“I think the district is doing as much as possible to keep us as safe as possible; however, I think it is going to be challenging to ensure that all students and staff follow all these protocols consistently,” Krick said.  

She said that she will be ensuring that both she and her students are safe from COVID-19  by abiding by and enforcing all safety guidelines. 

TUHSD has made many adjustments this year to meet COVID-19 safety protocols. Teachers and administrators will be enforcing and encouraging all guidelines, but students must also be held responsible to follow these guidelines if they want on-campus learning to be a success.