Student Petition in Oakland Threatens Walkout if District Does Not Improve COVID Protections

OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- A group of Oakland Unified high school students are threatening to walk off campuses if the school district doesn't provide more COVID protections or return to online learning.

More than 150 high school students signed a petition demanding that the school district provide KN95 masks for every student, twice weekly COVID tests for everyone on campus and more covered outdoor spaces where students can eat in inclement weather. The students say the only other acceptable choice would be to return to online learning.

The students say the district has until Jan. 17 to meet their demands.

"This letter is to inform you that OUSD students are not comfortable with going to school with the rising cases of COVID-19," according to the letter. "There's a lot of concerns regarding safety measures and how to protect us from COVID-19, especially the highly contagious Omicron variant. We must go back to distance learning until the cases go down again. In order to ensure a safe learning environment, we demand you give us N95 masks and weekly PCR testing. If these demands are not met we will be striking by not attending school. We will be striking until we get what we need to be safe."