The return to school offers pros and cons regarding new COVID and schedule policies

by Malia Gaviola, Editor-in-Chief

The Fall of the school year is a time of growth and new experiences: freshmen scuttling around not knowing where their classes are; seniors ready for their last year at as Bearcats; new staff entering the Bearcat family while the holes of those who have left are still healing;teachers and staff and students ready to make new connections. However, after a year of quarantine and a few months of hybrid learning, the PRJUSD Board decided that students would be returning to an eight hour day for the first time in two years. Back to school, back to normal. However, as Aug. 19 rolled around and students walked through the gates on the first day , they found that the “new” normal was both alike and different from past years.

This in-depth section will explore the two sides of back to school: coming back during COVID times and to an unfamiliar schedule that has affected students’ lives.

An 8:30 start, two lunches separating the campus, and shorter nutrition and passing periods has

Likewise, COVID procedures that were either introduced or adapted as the pandemic and positive results in the county fluctuated, left students masked, sometimes quarantined , and faced with potential vaccine mandates.

Back to school at Paso Robles High School has ushered in a period of change that has left many students excited to return--yet disgruntled. They are motivated to battle in sports, learn in new classes, and dance again-yet there is dislike of the new. They must juggle both back-to-school COVID policies and a new schedule, and the consensus on each topic is mixed. A survey of over 350 students, plus interviews and research, will exhibit student opinion s on these two sides of back to school.

Back to school has allowed staff and students to strive to finally make connections without a screen separating them. It still has freshmen searching for classes on campus, lost... though sophomores are wandering along with them. Seniors are still looking forward to a final year with a hope that they won’t be sent back to distance learning.

Crimson news magazine investigates the new rules, regulations, controversies of starting a new school year in