As Students Return, Most Local Schools Report Low Transmission in Classroom

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With all students back this month to full-time, in-person instruction, for the first time since the start of the pandemic, school districts are reporting low transmission rates of COVID-19 within the classroom.

The positive news is more than likely due to the strict health and masking guidance being implemented by the state Department of Health and Washington state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Outside the classroom, in communities around Lewis County, transmission remains a concern for instructors and district leadership.

On its Facebook page, the White Pass School District has been updating the community through weekly posts detailing transmission in the classroom. So far, no cases have been reported in the first two weeks of class, though a few students have had to quarantine.



At Napavine, Superintendent Shane Schutz said there has been no transmission within the district’s classrooms.

"I really believe our community has done a great job of keeping it out of school so that we can continue with school,” he told The Chronicle.

He said he still has concerns with the COVID-19 spread in general, noting that the potential for reduced staff levels has been a fear since the start of the pandemic.

At the beginning of the school year, though, Centralia and Chehalis school districts — Lewis County’s two largest public education systems — reported more than a dozen cases combined during their first weeks back.