Covid Came for Us

*takes a deep breath* 

Last Monday was the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, so Tuesday was our first day at school for the week. Being a good and prepared sub, I had let the students pick where we'd go out for CBI on the prior Thursday. (The district gave us the Friday off as well. Woo-hoo four-day weekend!) 

We had barely gotten the day started when the principal pulled me out of class. She was cancelling our CBI. Again. 

But, I didn't have a chance to freak out about this as the principal informed me the reason the CBI was cancelled was because we had a positive Covid student in class. And now we were scrambling to get the students into quarantine that needed to be in quarantine. 

When the students arrived, we were three short. Sushi, who had been out the week prior as well. (He emailed me to say he had the flu. Or maybe Covid. I never heard back one way or the other.) Logan, who had gone home early the previous Thursday. (He had had a fever.) And Antoine, who hadn't been feeling well on Thursday, but did not go home early as he said he wasn't feeling terrible (and did not have a fever). 

Because of HIPAA, I don't get to know who was the positive Covid (unless one of them tells me, which they probably will). 

So, anyway, then began the scramble. Because, I guess, from what I understand now, anyone who is fully vaxxed is safe to remain on campus. Those who weren't, couldn't. 

As we had planned to go out, we had nothing to keep the students busy, so I put on a movie. (They picked Penguins of Madagascar. It was way better than I expected. That's not a high bar, as I didn't expect much. But funny. And cute. And perfect for that moment.) 

The first to go was Flash. They called him out of class, isolated him, and he was picked up by a parent. 

Then I got a call from the main office. They could not get a hold of Sydney's parents. Could Sydney text them to tell them to get in contact with the school? Well, she could not. (They aren't allowed phones where they work.) But eventually it was determined that she wasn't vaxxed, so off she went. 

And then there were four. 

I figured the four would stay, but then I got a call to send Pizza out of class. 

And then there were three. 

Aide 2 and I looked at each other. (Aide 1 was out already as she hadn't been feeling well over the weekend.) Could we handle three students just by ourselves? We figured we could.

But then the principal returned. Now that the students were squared away, it was time to check the staff. 

Alas, aide 2 is vaxxed but not boosted, so she was sent home.

So, then it was me and three students. 

I was asked if I needed another aide to assist. With three students? I said I was fine. 

We finished the movie. They had lunch. We did our usual afternoon activities. 

Eddy leaves early. He catches the city bus, and it leaves just before our dismissal time. So, I took him out to leave. 

And then there were two.

Then I got a call. Leanna's brother was there to pick her up. (She has a dance class on Tuesdays.) 

So, it was end of day, and I had one student left. Brittany. We cleaned up the room (which usually is done by all the students), and then she was dismissed. 

It felt like the students all trickled away throughout the day. Very strange. 

Students could return if they had a negative Covid test. The next day Flash returned. (Eddy stayed out, but returned to class Thursday.) Sydney returned Thursday and would have returned Wednesday if not for a mix up with her bus. Pizza missed Wednesday due to getting his booster (which he had told us about the week previous) and was out Thursday and Friday due to not feeling well afterward. 

And I got my very own negative Covid test as well: