by Avery Prudenti ‘22

As a senior, I have been witnessing Sherwood’s Covid-19 precautions being put to use for a year and a half. I was even one of the rare students who chose to come back to in-person last spring. These precautions have been constantly changing and shifting based on the number of cases, Maryland guidelines, and so much more. Now, they are more confusing than ever, to the point where many students are unaware of the rules they are supposed to follow.

On Tuesday, October 26, I woke up feeling sick and went for a Covid-19 test. During this time I called Sherwood to inform them of my circumstances and the school nurse, Irene Gumucio, took this call very seriously, even going as far as giving us her cell phone number to contact her after school hours with the test results. I got my positive results back that evening and immediately notified the school and was instructed to not come back to school until Nov. 5. After that call, I was not contacted by Sherwood again for the remainder of my quarantine.

A letter was sent out on October 27 to parents of Sherwood students informing them of my positive test result. In this letter, they wrote, “… a student in grade 12 who was last present at Sherwood High School on Monday, October 25, 2021 tested positive for the Coronavirus (COVID-19) on Tuesday, October 26, 2021. We were notified on Wednesday, October 27, 2021.” This is inaccurate because we notified Gumucio on Tuesday evening, right after getting the test result back. This is just one of the many squandered opportunities to give students an accurate clarification of events.

In this letter, the school also told students that those who were in contact with the positive student would be getting contacted; however, many of the students sitting around me in classes were never contacted. This has been confusing because it was believed that the classroom seating charts put in place this year were there to allow administrators to contact-trace students who may have been in contact with someone positive with Covid-19. As far as I know, only one student sitting near me in a class was called by administrators. This one student was instructed to quarantine for 10 days from their last contact with me. I don’t know why only one student, that I am aware of, was contacted and asked to quarantine, but because they were unable to comply due to their extracurricular activities, the quarantine never ended up occurring. Two of my best friends are in four of my classes and they were never contacted by the school. They went and got tested on their own and were negative, but what about the other students who sat in desks near mine? Did they ever even know that they were exposed? 

The whole process was very confusing for me and for other students who have had Covid-19 during this school year, because for each student, there has been a different process taking place, with inconsistent letters being sent out, disparate amounts of people being contacted, and more. I believe that Sherwood needs to become more transparent with their guidelines and make their plans clear on what is expected of students and teachers, because then we can do our best to comply with these rules. Students are largely left in the dark about the Covid-19 cases and the procedures happening in the school right now, and, the way I see it, this is information that should be open to students and parents who want to know. 

Sherwood needs to be more clear and open about how they handle positive cases of students and staff. From my understanding of the policy as it’s written, at least 20 students total sat within three three feet of me in classes and therefore should have been contacted by the school. Did that happen? Should they have been told to get tested automatically or only if they have symptoms? Sherwood should create a clear FAQ and other materials to answer such questions. Things are only getting more confusing since apparently random testing of students has just begun at the school. Students only can act safely if they know what is expected of them. This is only going to get worse as more and more students likely test positive during the winter months, so now is the time for Sherwood to act and clarify their procedures with students.