High-risk COVID-19 letters force band class to move outdoors

Photos by Gavin Chen, Staff Writer

Delisa Troupe, Staff Writer

“This is an important message from Fulton County Schools. There has been a confirmed case, as of 9/1, of COVID-19 at Northview HS who was last in your student's classroom on 9/1.  You are being notified that your child may have been exposed to coronavirus through direct contact with an individual who has tested positive for COVID-19.  As a result of the exposure, your child is required to ‘wear a mask/face covering’ through 9/11/21 and to strictly adhere to the following guidance if he/she is to continue coming to school/school activities.” 

 In early September, an outbreak of COVID-19 cases at Northview High School forced band students, specifically brass and wind players who require removing masks to play, to have class outdoors. According to Fulton County District Health Services, Northview held a record of zero staff/students tested positive for COVID-19 up until Aug. 26. When the data for the COVID-19 cases in Fulton County Schools released for the week of Aug. 27 to Sept. 2, that number had jumped to 10 positive COVID-19 cases, and 808 people exposed, or around half the school. As a result of the outbreak, many band students received high-risk letters from FCS in the form of an email warning them of possible exposure to COVID-19 and detailing the new school guidelines along with possible quarantine procedures for these students. 

 “The majority of the band is not high risk, but when we have five to 10 students who are, that could mean I’m missing an entire section of instruments for rehearsal,” Kelly Dickerson, the band director, said. 

People who received a high-risk letter, specifically those involved in a level one incident on the FCS closing matrix, had to wear a mask or face covering for 10 days while on campus or at any school-sponsored activity, meaning that brass and wind players who had received a high-risk letter could not play indoors. In order to follow the mandates put forth by FCS, Dickerson had the move outdoors approved by Principle Brian Downey. Even so, the change was only temporary. 

“Having class outside is hard, for obvious reasons, because it’s so weather-dependent. And then, there’s a secondary issue of safety and a tertiary issue of space,” Downey said. 

For percussion player and junior Advay Pampattiwar, the change did not affect him much. Percussion players, who do not require removing their masks to play, did not have to move outdoors even if they received a high-risk letter. 

“For a couple of days, the room was littered with percussion instruments everywhere... all the chairs were stacked up because the winds were playing outside,” Pampattiwar said. 

On the other hand, senior Vedu Arya, a trumpet player, thought that the spike in high-risk letters would cause COVID-19 to spread in a matter of days but was pleasantly surprised when the number of positive cases went down. As someone who played outside, Arya also admitted that the move ended up as an exciting change.

“It was a cool experience; you sound different outside than you do in the band room,” said Arya. “But I’m sure for the people who got the high-risk letters, it was a little more stressful.”

Despite the sudden spike in positive COVID-19 cases, Downey’s outlook has been mostly optimistic. He revealed that Northview has had relatively few COVID-19 cases, none of which have been contact-traced back to inside the building. 

“The spread that we’ve had has been community-based, [it] has been outside of our physical building, which is a huge relief to me,” Downey said. 

The band concert was indoors, revealing a downward trend in the amount of COVID-19 cases and high-risk letters popping up. 

“Thankfully the number of students who are high risk have expired, and the numbers are down to one or two per class period,” Dickerson said. “I’m just trying my best to keep everyone involved, enjoying band, and being able to participate within the mandates of the restrictions.”

Despite the decline in COVID-19 cases at Northview, there is still worry for the future. School-sponsored activities that require removing masks along with the constant possibility of exposure to COVID-19 at school will always be a source of worry. 

“Am I concerned? Yes, I am concerned every day,” Downey said. “The reality is that there is no going back. The fall of 2019 is not gonna happen again. I think we are going to be living with these various things in place for lots of years ahead of us.”