As the school year is winding down, COVID problems and cases continue to pop up. Students and parents may be confused about the rules for people who test positive or get contact traced.

As of right now, any student could be contact traced and sent home by the school if they sit next to or within six feet of that person for more than 15 minutes. This means no in-person classes for at least a week and no athletics or after-school activities.

For the students who actually test positive for COVID-19, some are able to come back quicker than students that are contact traced and never test positive. Students who get contact traced have to stay at home for at least 10 days even if they show negative tests.

Now with the fast-approaching vaccine rollouts, more and more students are beginning to become fully vaccinated, but nothing really has changed. Students are still required to wear a mask and even self-quarantine with complete vaccination. When will this end?

I believe the school needs to revisit the COVID-19 rules and guidelines regarding students who are fully vaccinated and the unfair rules when contact traced.

The rules concerning contact tracing also apply to the teachers, but most staff members in the Bethel Park School District have been completely vaccinated, so there should be no worry with teachers.

As cases eventually go down, the rules made by the district need to be reconsidered and changed. When a student is contact traced, they should be able to come back as soon as they show a negative test. This would undo the mandatory two-week self-quarantine.

I understand that we are not out of the clear yet, but as each day goes by, we need to slowly return back to normal as steps will need to be taken along the way.