Going to school physically has potential cons. If someone tests positive, the school must go through all the proper procedures and perform contact tracing of all the other classes that could possibly be infected, resulting in a two week quarantine for those who get sent home. 

Sending a child home means they cannot attend physical school for two weeks, they become a part of My School Online for the two week period. If a student gets sent home because of exposure to COVID-19, the school expects them to stay home for the two weeks from all school events, including athletics, even if they receive a negative test result. 

The protocol of keeping the students at home for the two week period, even if they receive a negative, acts as another protective strategy. The COVID-19 tests do not always have one hundred percent accuracy.. The test could possibly show a false positive, meaning that one could still test positive, but the antigens and antibodies have not yet registered in their system.

Taking that extra precaution and keeping all students at home for the two weeks is a good thing. Since students do not miss any school work, quarantining for two weeks should not cause issues. Most likely, their teachers may also receive notification that they must quarantine at home.

Fortunately, I have not gotten sent home because of a case at Palmetto, but many of my friends have. One of my teachers underwent quarantine as well. During that two week period, I had to go to the cafeteria at our school for that class period. Although I did not have the best service inside, they kept all of the students out from the class that had come into contact with COVID-19, which made me feel safe.

Sending students home to quarantine for two weeks, whether they test positive or negative, should be mandatory and put in place by all schools. It acts as an extra safety precaution that can make others around feel safe and lower the risk of catching the virus.