With Covid-19 still spreading, new quarantine policies put in place this school year by the Licking County Health Department are creating challenges for some students, parents and staff members. 

As the policy stands now, anyone unvaccinated and maskless can be quarantined if they are within six feet of someone who has tested positive for Covid. 

Sophomore Eden Hirschi was classified as a close contact and sent home to be in quarantine. Upon returning to the classroom, Eden did not feel that being in quarantine set her behind and felt caught up with the rest of her classmates due to the help of her teachers.

“Teachers are really fast when they email back,” Hirschi said. “I’ll email them and like 30 minutes later I’ll have an email back.”

Other students worry about being quarantined in fear of missing sports, extracurriculars and in person learning. Junior Emery Johnson does not know how she would teach herself up to two weeks worth of school on her own.

“As a junior, this year is really important and my workload is pretty heavy,” said Johnson. “I think I would be really behind when I would come back and the thought of all of that is very stressful.”

With school returning back to a more recognizable normal, French teacher Mme Benson is relieved to not have to teach both online and in-person classes at once, but she does find that some teachers are struggling to keep up with kids in quarantine

“It’s a huge amount of work for teachers,” Benson said. “If students are out for two weeks, that’s two weeks that you have to work with them and catch them up.”

For kids who are vaccinated and wear a mask, then they will not be affected by these policies, Principal Matt Durst said.

“If you are vaccinated, then it is like a ‘get out of jail free’ card from quarantine,” Durst said.