More than 5,000 students in the Lincoln County School District will be back in their classrooms four days a week on April 19, the district announced Monday, almost 13 months after it stopped having full-time school because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The change comes after Gov. Kate Brown and the Oregon Department of Education last month eased restrictions for having students in classrooms.
Except for high schools, the district has mostly been operating on a hybrid method of instruction for much of the year – two days of kids in classrooms mixed with two days of online teaching.
High school students are scheduled to return to classrooms two days a week on Monday, the start of their last term for the year. A week later they and all other students will be in classrooms for four days.
“This gives our staff two weeks required notice to prepare and for us to get transportation ready,” Superintendent Karen Gray said in the district’s announcement. “We will do everything in our power to make sure that everything is in place carefully and safely to make sure that this transition happens smoothly.”
Gray said the key to getting all students back into buildings was the state removing the requirement that each student have 35 square feet of space in their classrooms. That requirement was dropped, along with reducing space between students from six to three feet.
“This is a huge change for LCSD,” Gray said, “allowing us to have our students back four days per week full time.”
And, Gray said, once the district has gone back to full-time school, even if the number of COVID-19 cases increase, there is “no going back unless it becomes impossible to know that you can keep kids and staff safe.”
Gray said students and families who want to stay with the district’s two online methods of instruction — Edmentum and comprehensive distance learning – can continue until the end of the school year.
Buildings have been open most of the year for career technical education students, some special education students, students with little or no internet capability, and Otis-area wildfire victims.
Sports typically played in the fall – football, volleyball, soccer and cross country – are wrapping up their shortened seasons and typical spring sports – baseball, softball, golf and tennis – have started practice. Typical winter sports such as basketball begin in May.
Gray said – and national research backs this up – that schools are not where COVID-19 spreads.
But, she said, “if and when someone gets a positive covid diagnosis at school, we immediately jump to our protocols and quarantine those that must be quarantined.”
According to the Oregon Health Authority’s weekly outbreak report, there were eight COVID-19 cases reported at the LCSD’s Siletz Valley Charter School and four cases at Taft High School the week of March 31.
The district said staff with two shots of vaccine do not quarantine if there is a positive case in their classroom. Students and staff must also follow safety protocols, including wearing a mask at all times except when eating, washing hands, using sanitizer, staying home when ill, and being visually checked before entering a building.
“I cannot express how much I appreciate how hard this school year has been on students, parents, community, and staff,” Gray said in the district’s announcement. “I believe that we have learned valuable lessons about education, communication, grace, and kindness throughout everything. We have learned more about safety and health protocols than I think we ever wanted to, but it has taught us a great deal. We have known how to be nimble and accommodating. I hope that you feel that we have done our absolute best throughout an impossible situation.”
