After over nine months of uncertainty around Oregon schools reopening, Governor Kate Brown announced on Dec. 23, 2020 that she was urging schools to integrate in-person instruction by Feb. 14, 2021. 

Schools districts around the state, including TTSD, have had to scramble to prepare schools for reopening and hybrid instruction. TTSD classrooms are currently being prepped and reviewed to ensure that they are equipped with all the necessary precautions to create a COVID-safe atmosphere.

As the case rates rise in many Oregon counties, with TTSD accounting for Washgton, Multnomah and Clackamas County, there are mixed reactions from Tualatin High School students to the new guidelines. Some students are in agreement that schools should be allowed to reopen safely, whereas others are concerned about the risk factors.

“I am really excited to hopefully go back to school, but only if it is safe to do so. I also know a lot of people may not be comfortable going to school in person,” said sophomore Marin Hensley.

Not all students are excited to return to school so soon.

“I honestly think it’s not a good choice to reopen school,” said junior Kyle Duong. “It is not ethical to reopen school because it would put so many families of TuHS students at risk. Even with masks and new COVID protocols, it’s simply not safe being confined within the walls of TuHS. Our teachers are already stressed out from being online for so long, and I cannot imagine teaching a physical [in-person] class and an online one. I think that we just need to remain on distance learning for the remainder of the year even though I miss being in school.”

The district has also responded to Governor Brown’s new guidelines, releasing updated information and statements about the reentry into schools.

“We believe that in-person instruction is the most effective model to support student’s social and emotional health, development, and academic success,” Superintendent Sue Rieke-Smith said in the Jan. 11, 2021 school board meeting. “TTSD is committed to a phased-in return to in-person for students, for families who desire this model, that signaled early on that they wished to be in hybrid for the remainder of the school year, as well as those who had signaled early on that they wished to be online for the rest of the year.”