1/13/20, 4PM: This story has been updated with information on Redmond schools, and a push by some Bend teachers to allow teachers the opportunity to get vaccinated before returning to school buildings.
“This made me cry—I’m so happy and so are the kids!”
That was the reaction from a mother of two students in Bend-La Pine Schools—one of thousands of students in the district who have not been inside a classroom since March—after receiving the news Thursday that students in the district would begin to return to in-person instruction as early as this month.
Bend-La Pine students in grades K-3 will return to classrooms five days a week starting Jan. 25; students in grades 4 and 5 will return two days a week Feb. 1, and students in grades 6-12 will return two days a week starting Feb. 8, on the first day of the new school term.
In an email Thursday morning to families, Superintendent Lora Nordquist announced that students in the district would begin returning to classrooms as early as this month. Bend-La Pine students in grades K-3 will return to classrooms five days a week starting Jan. 25; students in grades 4 and 5 will return two days a week Feb. 1, and students in grades 6-12 will return two days a week starting Feb. 8, on the first day of the new school term. On days they’re not in classrooms, students will continue to receive instruction online.
Prior to their return to classrooms, students will engage in orientation weeks for “safety and classroom protocols orientation.” In elementary schools, part of that orientation will include teaching kids how to wash their hands. To allow for physical distancing, classrooms will be at about 50% capacity.
The return to classrooms is in keeping with Gov. Kate Brown’s announcement last month that the metrics around students’ return to school would be “advisory” rather than “mandatory.”
“We need the support of our entire community as changes, including increased community spread, would mean a need to reassess and potentially change our plans.” – Lora Nordquist
“It has become clear that when community spread is reduced and schools follow required health and safety protocols, there is low risk of transmission and illness when students resume in-person instruction,” Brown wrote in a letter Dec. 23.
To help districts plan and manage both distance and returns to in-person instruction during this pandemic school year, the Oregon Department of Education issued its “Ready Schools, Safe Learners” guidance for the 2020-21 school year. The document dictates that in-person instruction come with requirements that include face coverings, cleaning and disinfecting and maximizing airflow and ventilation in buildings.
“This plan to reopen schools is based on current state and public health guidance and levels of COVID-19 within our community,” Nordquist wrote in her letter. “While we have developed a phased-in plan for all students K-12 to return to in-person learning, we are prepared to delay the return of older students, if necessary. We need the support of our entire community as changes, including increased community spread, would mean a need to reassess and potentially change our plans.”
While families will have the option to return their students to in-person instruction, they also have the option to enroll in the Bend-La Pine Schools Online program, which has been in existence for the past 10 years.
“Families who wish to enroll students in Bend-La Pine Schools Online should do so by Jan. 15 (for grades K-5) and Feb. 8 (for grades 6-12),” Nordquist wrote. “If families enroll in Bend-La Pine Schools Online, they may be able to transition back to a brick-and-mortar school where space is available in the future.”
Tracking a post-holiday spike
While Brown’s latest edict allowed districts to make their own choices regarding reopening as of Jan. 1, BLPS opted to begin its transition to in-person instruction until later in January, when case numbers are expected to go down after “post-holiday spikes.”
“Bend-La Pine Schools has successfully hosted limited in-person instruction since October, serving approximately 1,800 students, about 10% of our total student population,” Nordquist wrote. “Sisters School District and Crook County School District, both within 30 minutes of our district boundaries, have successfully hosted in-person instruction since September.”
What if there’s an outbreak?
With COVID-19 vaccines not expected to be fully distributed for many more months, at least some transmission of the virus in school communities is highly likely.
“In some cases, staff and students may be sent home, or stay home, while contact-tracing takes place,” Nordquist stated. “This can take place with little notice and is case dependent. Families will need to remain flexible about child care, should a school, cohort, or classroom be required to temporarily close and families should have a back-up plan in case their student(s) are unable to attend in person as planned. All our students have iPads to support short-term distance learning, if necessary.”
Redmond returns Feb. 2
In the Redmond School District, all students will start attending classes in person on a hybrid basis the week of Feb. 2. As in other schools, students will be required to wear masks and practice social distancing, and will attend class in small cohorts, RSD officials announced Jan. 8. Redmond students will also have a full-time online option.
Teachers press for vaccinations before opening
On Jan. 11, a group of 47 teachers and classified staff from Summit High School in Bend sent a letter to BLPS’ superintendent, asking that the return to school come only after all teachers and staff have had the opportunity to be vaccinated. With Gov. Brown’s targeted date for all students to return to school being Feb. 15, she announced Jan. 12 that educators and people over the age of 65 would begin receiving vaccinations Jan. 23, after federal officials announced they’d release more doses rather than storing them.
“Nailing that Feb. 15 vaccination target, which seems optimistic, would be great,” Summit teacher James Williams told the Source via email. “But we should wait to return in person until vaccinations have been offered to all staff. (Of course the actual process takes time—getting both shots, weeks apart, and waiting for them to do their thing is approximately a month-long process—so technically we’d be looking at an early March return, depending on how soon we can get those first jabs.)”
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Regarding returning to school… we do not like what the governor has decided. We take the pandemic very seriously and believe the metrics are a valuable tool to help decide when a return to school would be safe for all.
Because our community has as a whole not been able to diminish the number of infections, our governor has decided to keep making it easier to try and meet the metrics, ultimately giving up hope that we would ever be able to meet them. So instead, lets just now say that instead of having to meet them, that they are there for ‘guidance.’ How insane is this??
With two vaccines available, now is not the time to take shortcuts in teachers or students (and ultimately families) safety! If you are on the council that decides whether or not to open schools to in-person learning, ask yourself how you will feel if/when a teacher, student, or family member dies due to covid that could have been prevented if we had just waited a bit longer until vaccines have been given to the majority.
Please do not reopen until the numbers have come down that meet the metrics and that all the teachers and staff have had the opportunity to be vaccinated.
LIVES ARE AT STAKE! Literally!!
Thank you.
Yes, we need our kids in school but this timing and plan does not make sense. This will be an epic failure. We should have gone to school in September when the numbers were down compared to now if we were going to go back to school. Now is not the time to put our community at risk. The children have adapted to somewhat of a rhythm and although I actually despise this distance learning at this point it is the safest thing to do. I think we should call for year round school to be implemented now and not feel rushed to get them back at school when vaccinations are around the corner. Why would we put our teachers, students and families at risk at this point? This makes absolutely no sense. And if you don’t feel comfortable putting your child in school you are forced to do online school. Now our children will yet have to adapt to another kind of school, different teachers and classmates. This is insane. We need year round school at this point to mitigate our losses from last year and this year and to do it safely. I am not in favor of sending back our children to school when we are in the worst part of this pandemic. I believe year round school is the answer and we need to start thinking creatively to make that happen. I have offered the school board to volunteer to help organize this and make it viable. We would have the same amount of schools days with quarterly breaks and holidays. This would give the children a way to connect and stay in a rhythm with their learning and social/emotional aspects of school that they have lost this year. The push back I received was no air conditioning in some schools and my response to that is we can have more outdoor programing focusing on science, art and physical activity with our fellow classmates.