Community members gathered to show support for reopening local schools last week at the Lewis County Courthouse in Chehalis.
By The Chronicle
Late Friday, Lewis County announced that Health Officer Dr. Rachel Wood had recommended in a letter to superintendents that schools could begin opening for in-person instruction with phased implementation dates based on grade levels.
Her letter recommended schools considering in-person instruction follow an A/B or an a.m./p.m. model, with staggered start dates for grades, especially for larger schools.
Students should all maintain 6 feet of social distancing. Class sizes should be as small as the school can accommodate to minimize the number of students needing to be quarantined in the event of an exposure in the class.
Wood recommends elementary schools open following this guidance starting October 19, middle schools November 16, and high schools December 14.
Centralia School District Superintendent Lisa Grant said that there is a lot of planning and preparation that needs to be done in order to get students back to school safely.
“We haven’t set a timeline yet and we want to think things through carefully. We are trying to balance the needs of staff with the safety of kids and staff,” said Grant.
She said that the district won’t be able to get all elementary school students back to school by Oct. 19 but they are working on a plan.
“Elementary-age students are impacted the most by not being in classrooms,” Wood said. “Opening schools in phases like this gets the young kids in classrooms first while allowing the districts time to iron out any wrinkles before opening up classrooms for the next grade levels.”
The letter also says schools should immediately consider priorities in regards to resuming sports, academic programs, and extracurricular activities, reviewing current WIAA and Washington State recommendations prior to making decisions.
Grant said that some of the challenges the district is facing when planning for hybrid in-person schooling are maintaining the virtual learning model and working with staff to get all of the protocols in place for in-person school. Districts must be prepared to revert back to fully virtual learning if and when they experience a positive COVID-19 case within the school.
“We know that many of our kids benefit from face-to-face learning — academically and socially. I don’t know if there’s a perfect answer. It’s one of those situations where you try and find the best option to make things work but it’s challenging because the needs are different for different families and staff,” said Grant.
Even as the district starts to bring students back to the classroom, they are planning to also offer a fully online option for families that don’t feel comfortable sending their children back to school yet, Grant said.
“Developing a countywide plan to safely reopen schools has been an incredible challenge. It would not have been possible without the dedicated collaboration between our local superintendents, pediatricians, parents, and teachers,” Lewis County Public Health & Social Services Director J.P. Anderson said.
Anderson said there are still many challenges to overcome.
“But if any community can pull together and make it work, it’s Lewis County,” he said.
Lewis County still does not meet many of the public health benchmarks for stopping the spread of COVID-19, according to the county. Twenty new cases were announced Friday, at the same time as Wood’s announcement was sent to media.
Wood said she is encouraged by how many partners throughout the county are working to return children to school as safely as possible.
“We all now better understand the health consequences to our kids, their families, our school staff, and communities at large on either side of the open in-person/open remotely equation,” she said.
A team from Infection Protection and Antimicrobial Consultants (IPAC) has been touring schools and providing recommendations to all schools wanting help in preparing for the return of students.
Individual school districts will determine whether they will provide in-person, hybrid, or remote learning. Wood said it is important that parents are given the choice to use which learning method works best for them and their families.
In mid-September Wood recommended that schools begin offering in-person instruction to kindergarteners. Grant said the district has been working on the plan to have kindergarteners back in school face-to-face on a hybrid model starting in October.
Just under 100 students across the Centralia School District’s eight buildings are back in the classroom starting Monday of this week. Districts are able to have groups of five or fewer students at schools for in-person learning. Based upon needs, special education students and English Language Learners are the groups of students that were able to go back to school in small groups.
Depending on the circumstances for each student, some students rode the school bus and others were dropped off by their families.
“We are watching what other districts, across our state and other states, are doing and learning from them. It’s a constant conversation and research,” said Grant.
More information for parents is available at www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/decision-tool.html.
Wood said that because COVID-19 remains an active presence in our county, interventions in place to protect public health will not change. New positive cases and outbreaks have the potential to close re-opened classrooms and schools, requiring districts to return to distance learning models.
“As Health Officer, I appeal to everyone in Lewis County, regardless of your own personal views on the coronavirus pandemic, to pull together,” she said. “Tolerate masking, endure social distancing, put up with the inconvenience for the benefit of our children’s futures.”
