The Lincoln County School District announced Monday that it would “freeze” for two months its plans to gradually move more students back into classrooms because of Gov. Kate Brown’s new coronavirus restrictions taking effect Wednesday.
Although schools are exempted from Brown’s executive order that shuts down many businesses and limits social activities for two weeks, Superintendent Karen Gray said pausing the transition is an effort to bring “some kind of stability” to staff, students and their families.
What that means, Gray said in a district-wide announcement, is:
- A “genuine freeze” of its current programs until Jan. 28, which means that “everything we are currently doing we will continue to do.”
- Continuing “hybrid” instruction for kindergarten through third-grade two days a week in classrooms and three days a week online.
- Stopping the transition of grades 4-12 back into classrooms and having those students continue their online instruction. That online five-day-a-week instruction was scheduled to end when those students returned to classrooms staggered over the next three Mondays.
- Career technical education students will continue to go to high schools in small groups two hours a day.
“This business of moving education models and grades back and forth is bad for everyone,” Gray said in the announcement. “We must demonstrate some stability for the sake of our kids, families and hard-working staff.”
Gray said district administrators feel it doesn’t make sense to bring more students back to schools during the governor’s two-week halt to many activities “but we also don’t think it is right to make K-3 students have to go back to (online) comprehensive distance learning.”
“By staying the course until Jan. 28, we get through the holidays and can hopefully come back in February with new vigor and everyone back in school in a K-12 hybrid model,” Gray said.
Brown’s executive order takes effect Wednesday and lasts through Dec. 2 and covers counties like Lincoln, which has seen the number of COVID-19 cases drop precipitously. The governor’s restrictions include:
- Limiting social get-togethers (indoors and outdoors) to no more than six people, total, from no more than two households;
- Limiting churches and other faith-based venues to a maximum of 25 people indoors or 50 people outdoors;
- Limiting restaurants to take-out only;
- Closing gyms and fitness organizations, indoor recreational facilities, museums, indoor entertainment activities, and indoor pools and sports courts and closing outdoor recreational facilities, zoos, gardens, aquariums, and outdoor entertainment activities.
- Limiting grocery stores, pharmacies, retail stores and indoor and outdoor malls to a maximum of 75% capacity and encouraging curbside pick up;
- Closing venues that host or facilitate indoor or outdoor events;
- Requiring all businesses to mandate work-from-home to the greatest extent possible and closing offices to the public; and, prohibiting indoor visiting in long-term care facilities.
The governor’s order does not apply to or change current health and safety protocols for personal services such as barber shops, hair salons, and non-medical massage therapy, congregate homeless sheltering, outdoor recreation and sports, youth programs, childcare, high school sports training, current Division 1 and professional athletics exemptions, and colleges or community colleges.
