By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com
More than 5,000 Lincoln County students are going back to school soon. Well, at least two days a week, and by early December.
The Lincoln County School District this week announced plans to bring back all its students to at least two days of “hybrid” classroom instruction in one- and two-week intervals, with everyone – including seniors — back in class by Dec. 7. It’s been seven months since Oregon schools had to shut because of coronavirus pandemic restrictions.
The return to classes was made possible last week when the Oregon Department of Education loosened guidelines for re-opening public schools to in-person instruction, either full-time or with a “hybrid” model.
Because the number of COVID-19 cases has dropped so dramatically in Lincoln County, the school district could bring back full-time instruction for kindergarten through sixth grade immediately. Under the revised state guidelines, it would have to wait for full-time classes for grades seven through 12.
But it is allowed to bring back all students to its hybrid model – two days in class with half the number of students, Wednesday off, and then two days with online instruction.
Here’s the transition plan released by the district Wednesday:
- Second and third grades return Monday, Nov 9;
- Fourth and fifth grades return Monday, Nov 23;
- Sixth, seventh and ninth grades return Monday, Nov 30;
- And, grades eight and 10-12 return Monday Dec 7.
Superintendent Karen Gray said once hybrid classes resume, the district will stop its online-only instruction.
“When students are called to return to school under hybrid, the comprehensive distance learning model for that grade is no longer available,” Gray said in an email to parents. “Teachers cannot be asked to teach under two different instructional models at the same time. It is simply not possible, and the state requires in-person instruction if the district is eligible with our metrics.”
Under the new state rules announced last week, all students can return to schools for hybrid, in-person instruction if the a county case rate is less than 50 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents over the last 14 days — not three weeks as it used to be. Also, the county positivity rates for tests needs to be less than 5 percent over the last 14 days not 21 days.
Under these new metrics, Lincoln County schools are eligible to transition to full K-12 Hybrid education.
Despite soaring COVID-19 cases in some areas of the state, Gov. Kate Brown and Oregon education officials said last week that students doing distance-only learning are much more likely to struggle with materials. Students who also depend on schools for meals and services such as mental health counseling are not having their needs met. State health officials also said there’s a growing body of evidence that young students returning to class are not a major spreader of infection among themselves or their communities.
But, in her statement Gray said if parents do not want their child to return to school in the in-person hybrid model, they can move to the district’s fully online program, Edmentum. But she said any family wanting to make changes to their child’s instruction must let their school principal know by Nov. 19.
The superintendent said building administrators are evaluating the size of the Monday/Thursday or Tuesday/Friday student groups so they can be sure to meet the required social distancing rules.
“We are staggering the return of students in order to ensure a careful and systematic approach,” Gray said. “Student and staff safety is essential to us, and we want to do this as carefully as we can and still have our kids back in school successfully.”
