With the new Coronavirus pandemic updates, the plexiglass in the lunchroom has been removed. This is due to the fact that there has been a major decrease in COVID-19 cases in the school, in the county, and in the state, the PA Department of Health website shows. 

The plexiglass was removed on Feb. 22. The plexiglass has been there since the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year. Even though the plexiglass was put in the lunchroom to provide a safe barrier between students as they eat lunch, many students found their way around it and did not really pay attention to it or use it properly. Many people would move the barriers to talk to a friend, they could  move around it, or they could talk under the tables and they would ignore the plexiglass. 

“We started to look at the number in the county, and that led to the decisions of masking. We saw numbers decrease and we decided to make [masks] optional. Then later we started talking about the plexiglass and made the decision to get [the plexiglass] removed,” Middle School Principal Dr. Smith stated.

Many, if not all, students say that the plexiglass didn’t and does not make them feel safer because everyone just went around it. 

“It didn’t really make a difference [if the plexiglass was there or not], because people would always talk around it,” Madison Fehir, seventh grader, stated.