Reykdal releases school reopening guidelines

OLYMPIA — The Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction has released an initial set of guidelines for re-opening schools in the fall.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal said the District Planning Guide is based on data provided by the state Department of Health, combined with suggestions from the 123-person Reopening Washington Schools Workgroup.

“To be very clear, it is my expectation that schools will open this fall for in-person instruction,” Reykdal said.

Governor Jay Inslee issued a proclamation June 11 stating he cannot guarantee the opening.

“This virus is unpredictable and has upended our regular ways of doing everything. Therefore, if COVID cases spike or spread, we may need to reassess this plan,” Inslee said. “We cannot guarantee that school will open in fall. But for now, this guidance provides a path that schools, educators and families need to plan for the coming months and the fall.”

Lind-Ritzville School Superintendent Don Vanderholm said he doesn’t know just yet what re-opening of the school district in the fall will look like, but is working with a stakeholder team comprised of administrators and educators, the school board, students, parents, health care staff, and city staff to get a plan in place as soon as possible.

The OSPI guidelines state in order to prepare for the 2020-21 school year, school districts will need to do the following:

— Establish plans for rapid transitions between face-to-face and continuous remote learning, which may be required based on health authority decisions.

— Create a flexible school calendar with additional days included to address emergency short-term school closures and the need to transition learning environments.

— Build a more effective and sustainable continuous remote learning model that will be ready to be deployed if schools are required to be closed for long periods of time.

While most school districts took advantage of OSPI’s instructional waiver process to satisfy the requirements of 1,027 average instructional hours and 180 instructional days for the 2019-20 school year, school districts are asked to plan to operate consistent with the requirements for the 2020-21 school year.

“To prioritize student learning time, OSPI encourages districts to count school closure days due to COVID-19 as non-student days,” the guidelines state. “OSPI expects that for most districts, they will build a face-to-face instructional model using a flexible calendar to meet the 180-day/1,027-hours requirement.”

Reykdal said in order to meet Department of Health guidelines, he expects some schools to use a hybrid of face-to-face or online instruction.

“All districts will also need an alternative plan to return to fully remote learning if local health authorities or Governor Jay Inslee mandate future closures,” Reykdal said.

Vanderholm said the school district will need to prepare for any likely resurgence of the virus in the fall.

“It is quite likely we will be doing something different in the fall than we would probably like to do,” Vanderholm said.

OSPI is currently looking at three models to reopen schools. One is based on split or rotating schedules with distance learning.

“The key characteristics of this model are split or alternating schedules on

school sites, combined with substantial portions of learning occurring off-site, in the form of online courses, video conferencing, otherwise known as ‘distance learning,’” Vanderholm said. Half of the student population would report to school for half or full days and the remaining half of the population would participate in distance learning.

Vanderholm said a model called Phased In with Distance Learning is meant to be a bi-county or other geographic slice to meet social distancing demands.

“Some of the key characteristics of this model include facilities open for some groups of students while others remain closed until a later date, or certain community characteristics are met,” Vanderholm said. “So students who are not attending open schools are also participating in distance learning.

Vanderholm called the third option, Continuous Learning 2.0 an improved version of current continuous distance learning models, to meet social distancing demands as well as any new stay at home orders from the governor or county health department.

Vanderholm said in all three models, districts will work closely with local or

county health departments.

“I think that was encouraging news, as we would like to have something that fits more to our region and area than a state-wide plan,” Vanderholm said.

DOH Guidelines

General guidance from the Department of Health suggests school districts not allow students, staff, vendors, parents and guardians, or guests on-site if they are showing symptoms of COVID-19; or have been in close contact with someone who has confirmed or suspected COVID-19 in the last 14 days.

“All students, staff, volunteers and guests must wear cloth face coverings in K-12 settings,” Department of Health guidelines suggest. Exclusions can be made for those with a disability that prevents them from comfortably wearing or removing a face covering; those with certain respiratory conditions or trouble breathing; those who are deaf or hard of hearing and use facial and mouth movements as part of communication; those advised by a medical, legal or behavioral health professional that wearing a face covering may pose a risk to that person.

The DOH suggests health screening be done for all staff and students at entry each day, including a specified set of questions and checking students for signs of being sick while maintaining a distance of six feet.

The DOH suggests districts develop a system for drop-off and pick-up that keeps families at least six feet from each other and “reduces their need to enter the school.”

The DOH further suggests schools consider physical distancing strategies such as:

—Canceling in-person activities and events such as field trips, student assemblies, special performances, school-wide parent meetings or spirit night.

— Canceling or modifying classes where students are likely to be in very close contact.

— Suspending or modifying activities that are considered high risk, such as choir or other classes or activities that require students to remove face coverings.

— Rearranging student desks to maximize the space between students and having them face the same direction.

— Reducing the number of students in the halls at one time by staggering release of classes and limiting activities where multiple classes interact.

— Staggering arrival and dismissal times.

— Limiting non-essential visitors including volunteers for classroom activities, cafeteria support and other activities.