The pandemic has prompted COVID-19 protocols for the new school year, including indoor mask mandates, testing opportunities and vaccine promotions for students and faculty. However, the San Mateo Union High School District and Aragon administration have lacked transparency toward community members because they did not spread enough awareness about information that could help people fulfill these protocols. The editors of The Aragon Outlook urge the District to increase publicity about vaccination locations, case data and testing opportunities to protect the Aragon community’s health and privacy.
The District has been offering vaccination opportunities at locations such as Capuchino and Hillsdale High School, but there have been significantly fewer opportunities advertised this year than during the spring of 2021. While other opportunities outside of school exist, such as through local pharmacies and grocery stores, some parents may be reluctant to allow their children to get vaccinated, or simply may not have the time to take them to get their shot. Thus, the SMUHSD must ensure students who want to get vaccinated can.
Postings about vaccination opportunities on the District website are not enough, as they do not reach the entire student population. Information should also be promoted through Canvas announcements, loudspeaker reminders, emails and video announcements to ensure the entire school community is aware.
The District should also more openly communicate with the community about new cases. While a data-based dashboard displaying weekly positive cases at each school is available on the SMUHSD website, it has scarcely been advertised. It was featured during the Sept. 9 board meeting as a bullet point on a presentation, but from language barriers to scheduling issues, not all members of the SMUHSD community can watch four-hour livestreams. Routinely publicizing the dashboard is an effective way to achieve transparency to the entire community.
“Keeping the community in the dark about positive cases, even unintentionally, is irresponsible”
The case dashboard is also a useful source for reducing uncertainty during the already confusing and stressful pandemic. More exposure to such resources informs the community and minimizes panic. Keeping the community in the dark about positive cases, even unintentionally, is irresponsible. In the absence of accessible figures and data, rumors can spread, exacerbating mistrust and anxiety. Additionally, some may falsely assume the pandemic is not affecting the community, which increases disregard for public health. Sharing the real numbers frequently and clearly can prevent this spread of misinformation and motivate people to take safety measures seriously.
COVID-19 testing is also crucial to ensuring school safety. Weekly testing is available for Aragon students from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on school days at the theater lobby. Students can test during the 10-minute passing periods. However, the administration needs to more energetically promote these opportunities.
While publicizing, the administration should be considerate of student privacy. When unvaccinated students are required to be tested starting on Oct. 15, announcements to the general student body will be preferable so that unvaccinated students can be reminded of their responsibility without being singled out.
Transparency is integral to any healthy community. Allowing parents, students and staffulty to learn about public health decisions as they are made will create a constructive, informed environment. A deeper understanding of COVID-19 at Aragon and at each SMUHSD school will allow every member of the community to contribute to public health measures. Ultimately, students and staffulty on campus have to reap the consequences of district officials’ decisions, and thus have a right to know what is going on. Sharing information that will protect classmates without betraying students’ legal right to medical privacy is a complicated but important process to undertake.
