COVID-19 at Hamilton High School
Photo by Cora Kuhlenbeck
Spencer Margolis
After months of contact tracing and social distancing, Hamilton High School has been able to remain mainly in-person. However, although about ⅓ of students are currently enrolled in virtual school, the number of students who have been sent home due to the coronavirus and emergency quarantining has continued to fluctuate; in one week, almost 200 students were sent home! The rise in COVID-19 cases has been responsible for both a shortage of students and staff at times. To combat the problem, Hamilton High School went fully virtual for two weeks in November. But what caused it, why was it necessary, and what can we do differently to prevent another lockdown in the future?
In Waukesha, as well as all over the state, numbers spiked around mid-July. According to the Waukesha County Public Health Department, COVID-19 rates hit a record high of more than 100,000 cases on July 25. Some of the increase has been attributed to a large number of family or social gatherings around holidays. Back in late October, some students were coming together outside of school to have parties for Halloween— no mask parties. Per the CDC, the lack of a mask can help coronavirus rates increase, especially in crowded areas. However, after hitting a peak of 1,500 new cases a day in late November, spikes in new cases have been kept at bay as there have been no days with more than 1,000. With this in mind, there weren’t many actual coronavirus cases within the Hamilton School District. The majority of students were sent home due to contact with the few students who had tested positive.
Not only did absences affect students, but they also affected staff. Multiple teachers were forced to go home due to safety concerns, and others because they had family/relatives who had the coronavirus. According to a message from Mrs. Newcomer, the principal at HHS, “the decision [to switch to virtual school in November] was based on the inability to fill substitutes in the buildings as well as the numbers.” Prior to the switch, many students were left without teachers and some without substitutes. The absence of teachers and an overwhelming number of students on emergency remote learning played a role in the school closures back in the fall. However, Mrs. Newcomer does believe that Hamilton can improve its situation. She says that, although the attendance continues to be an issue that should worry people, “The instruction is getting better and better… teachers are learning to do things more efficiently and students are learning how to access their instruction more effectively.”
Now that the second semester has started and more students are back, there are some measures that students and staff alike can take to help keep school open for in-person instruction. According to Mr. Laurishke, the new associate principal, “The student body as a whole— your friends, other students, your classmates— are overwhelmingly adhering to the mask rules.” He states that students only need to continue to follow regulations such as social distancing when possible and washing their hands frequently. “It obviously gets harder as the longer we have to do it, so maybe we have to reiterate those regulations.” With this in mind, Mr. Laurishke advises students to “keep in mind why we’re doing it.”
Students may also take other precautions such as leaving the class in the later part of passing time to prevent overcrowding in the hallway and also have fewer gatherings outside of school. As coronavirus rates continue to rise and fall in our community, the willingness of all individuals to take precautions to remain safe and healthy will allow Hamilton High School to continue learning in-person.
