It’s the first day back from break. The Omicron variant of COVID is on the rise. People are asking questions with no answers in sight. Students, parents, and staff alike are feeling extremely uncertain and worried about the unknown. 

In just one day back from break, we are observing changes in every classroom. Huge gaps in attendance. Some people are doubling up in masks or wearing an N-95. And yet, others still sport theirs below their nose or on their chin. Sitting in the Library Commons, we can see kids eating and talking with masks down with no change in distancing efforts. In the cafeteria, the same thing. Plenty of kids are left confused as to why their kinetic wellness classes didn’t go to the saliva testing area as promised today. We will instead have to wait two more days to test and up to 48 hours to get the results back.

So now we wonder. What will happen with finals in the coming weeks? What to do if you get sick? Will masks be any match for the spread of this new variant in schools? 

Unfortunately, finals are one of the greatest causes of uncertainty right now.

Students are pulled apart by a moral predicament. Whether to admit to getting exposed to the contagious virus and stay home to protect the health of their peers and teachers; or continue to attend school in order to score better on the fast-approaching finals? 

People with more concern for others will stay home if they know they don’t feel well. Those with less regard for their peers will arrive at school with snot running from their nose and a blaring headache. 

In order to encourage honesty from students regarding Covid, finals should be lower stakes. Sophomores find themselves specifically stressed as they have never experienced a year of normal finals. Last year, finals were entirely over Zoom, fostering cheating and collaborating between students, clearly not an authentic finals experience. 

This year, luckily, we are in person. Yet classes seem to be nearly half empty from the rising COVID cases. Missing school right before finals can be overwhelming and feel unfair to many. These students are missing out on integral learning right before a major exam. Surely, it cannot be fair to make them take an exam covering 4 months of material after they are missing reviews as well as new information covered in class.

For that reason, we believe that finals should be reimagined. For example, a teacher could give a unit test instead of covering material from the early weeks of September. Or students could engage in a collaborative project that encourages creative thinking and teamwork. Taking finals in school, for those that are healthy, will give some sense of normalcy. 

If finals were more manageable, students wouldn’t feel compelled to lie about the result of their COVID tests and others would feel that the circumstances allow them to stay home when they are unwell. Ultimately, the health and safety of students and staff will always outweigh the urgency to take high school tests. In this unpredictable time we must improvise to find the best solution.