Schools closed for the year

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Gov. Jay Inslee announced Monday that Washington will join 13 other states that have closed in-person public and private schooling for the rest of the academic year.

Students will instead continue distance learning until the end of June.

“This decision is made on the clear epidemiological evidence that in order to give us a higher degree of confidence that we will suppress this pandemic, we simply cannot take the chance of reopening on-site instruction in this calendar school year,” Inslee said.

Whether schools will return to in-class learning in the fall is not yet known, Chris Reykdal, state superintendent, said. Returning to school too quickly and potentially risking individual outbreaks of COVID-19 might be too dangerous, and it is too soon now to know, he said.

“We do not want that curve to suddenly spike back up because we acted too quickly to come back,” Reykdal said.

Inslee said he hopes students will use this as an opportunity to embrace learning in a different way.

In-person instruction for students with special needs and circumstances to ensure fair equity in education will be allowed as long as necessary safety precautions are met.

Consideration for holding in-person graduation ceremonies in June is still on the table, Inslee said.

Local schools were instructed on March 30 to begin providing continuous learning opportunities to students, and what this looks like is largely based on individual schools, teachers and students.

Continuous learning is defined by the state as not necessarily set courses with requirements and grades but instead “establishing and maintaining connections with students and families to provide learning materials and support using a variety of modalities.”

At Chimacum and Port Townsend school districts, students are working with their individual teachers in different ways, some virtually and others via educational packets.

Chimacum and Port Townsend schools have also provided chromebooks and internet access to students who need it.

Rick Thompson, Chimacum School District superintendent, said they are trying to find a way to create a large wifi hotspot in their main campus parking lot to connect those who don’t have access at home.

Quilcene Elementary School kids will receive learning packets with food drop-offs, Frank Redmon, Quilcene superintendent said, and students at the secondary school will work on long-term projects based around core themes. They meet virtually with teachers each week to stay connected and stay on track with projects.