Lockdown Round Two?

Principal David Miles shares his perspective on the possibility of a having a second school closure.

By Wil Auld

Podcast Editor & Web Manager

Before the global pandemic struck, there were many parts of life that were taken for granted which have now been altered or even removed completely. In the beginning months of the first lockdown. Restaurants closed, gyms shut down, and business operations were put on hold indefinitely.

Sandpoint High School faced this issue head-on when the school district made the decision to close schools from midMarch up until June in an attempt to reduce community spread of the sickness. This school year, the same council decided to reopen schools to attempt to provide a better education for students. However that decision has produced its own set of problems.

Despite the many concerns regarding the health of students and staff, there is one overarching question: will Sandpoint High School face a second clos

Principal David Miles has responded to this question to share his insight on the moral aspects of closing a school and whether or not Sandpoint High School’s efforts to stop the spread of Coronavirus Are working.

“I am fairly confident in what we are doing here at SHS,” Miles said, “I think that we have created as safe an environment as we can and still give students the quality education that they deserve.” The practices that SHS staff has put into place to protect students have seemingly limited student to student spread of the virus. Seeing that the safety measures being taken have been effective, Miles said he believes students should absolutely be in school.” “I’m not going to lie to you, there’s no way that we can keep students absolutely safe,” said Miles. In his mind, this does not mean that education should be compromised. A study by the American Academy of Pediatrics states, “The importance of in-person learning is well-documented, and there is

already evidence of the negative impacts on children because of school closures in the spring of 2020.” This evidence supports Mile’s assessment that students should stay in school.

Miles does not think that there needs to be a second school closure unless there is a sudden rise of cases in the school district. Sandpoint High School staff is taking numerous protocols that have been consistently protecting students throughout the year. “We are encouraging kids to wear masks and stay home from school if they feel ill,” Miles said, “we also have the janitorial staff sanitizing the classrooms everyday and have students socially distanced in class, whether that be simply six feet or with plastic dividers.”

Even though many students have chosen to keep doing distance learning throughout the pandemic, Miles is confident in not only the school’s precautionary measures, but also the quality of in-school education.

“I think that we have created as safe an environment as we can and still give students the quality education that they deserve.” -David Miles