With Fossil Ridge High School’s students beginning to fill the halls again, many have been preparing themselves for what may happen should a student test positive for COVID-19. After two weeks, many different speculations have been circulating about what is in store for Fossil’s population.

Poudre School District has stated that they will be following any guidelines put out by the Larimer County Department of Health and Environment regarding COVID-19 safety and precautions. This statement has left a lot up to speculation and prediction. A poll of some of Fossil’s counselors and teachers showed that 57.1% do not think that the rest of the 2020 Semester will go by in hybrid learning. Deana Kochis, a Dean of Students at Fossil, shared her knowledge of how Fossil intends to handle the virus.

Kochis revealed that most decisions regarding COVID-19 precautions come from the health department. If a student tests positive, Fossil’s administration would have to identify any students that were exposed to the virus, and send that information to the health department. The health department will then tell Fossil’s administration which students will be required to participate in the 14-day quarantine period.

While discussing the process of contact tracing exposed students, Kochis emphasized how important it was for students to log their locations during lunch and off periods, if they are staying in the school. “I equate it to, like, your math homework, and where your teacher says you have to show all your work,” says Kochis.

For the sake of all of Fossil’s population, Kochis hopes that everyone continues to be careful about social distancing, stating, “I think that’s the part that is going to take us [working together] as a community, to make sure we’re practicing really good social distancing, no matter how hard it is.” She is hopeful that, if students and staff continue to follow the necessary precautions, Fossil will not end up in an all virtual learning plan again.

Despite all the negative changes that high school students have had to face this year, Kochis believes that there is an important lesson being taught to this generation. “I think you guys are going to be the most adaptable.” Kochis believes that this generation will be able to use the flexibility and adaptability they have learned in the future. She hopes it will allow the student population to get jobs in the future, and that they will find some form of a silver lining even after all that has happened.