Sean C. Morgan
Update: This story has been updated to reflect that Gov. Kate Brown has extended the closure of Oregon schools through the end of the school year.
High school seniors may start finding out within the week about their fate this school year since schools have been closed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The goal is that no senior should be harmed by these closures,” said Supt. Tom Yahraes, who was in a virtual meeting with superintendents and Department of Education officials about it Monday morning.
“The state, three weeks ago, made a proposal to reduce graduation requirements from 24 credits to 19. That is still going through a vetting process. Graduation requirements should be determined by the state in the next week.”
The Oregon Department of Education has been collecting feedback from various interests, businesses, students and other groups, about changing requirements, Yahraes said. Colleges and the university system are being consulted as well.
The seniors should not be “held hostage to an unfortunate pandemic that robbed them of 2 to 3 percent” of their time in education, Yahraes said.
School in session
Schools went into session remotely beginning Monday. Parents dropped by campuses to pick up physical packets and activities printed by the district, while students stayed busy with assignments through their Google classrooms.
School staff handed the packets to parents through the passenger windows of their cars, with plans to repeat the process each Monday going forward.
Yahraes said he doesn’t yet have data on how the program is working, but he’s hoping to have figures, such as the number of students who have not responded to the district, available by Monday’s regular School Board meeting.
“I don’t have data, but I do have a lot of good stories,” Yahraes said. “We were poised very well because of teachers’ hard work coming out of spring break.”
Staff members’ “robust” work on supplemental school work online prepared them to meet the Department of Education’s requirements to target specific areas of instruction, Yahraes said.
“Nothing beats brick-and-mortar, face-to-face interaction and live feedback with our students,” he said. “That’s superior under most conditions; however, I think we’re actually taking two steps forward in many ways.”
The development of distance learning will add more tools to educator’s toolboxes long after COVID-19, he said, noting that the his own son in the second grade can navigate around his Google classroom far better than his father.
“When we’re through this situation, we’re going to be stronger from the challenge,” Yahraes said.
This effort should ensure kids are ready to enter their next grades next year, he said. The district will target essential learning areas for the major content standards, and “kids will be poised well for their next grade.”
While optimistic on one front, “I am very concerned about the at-risk kids and our ability to connect with them,” Yahraes said. The district usually already used multiple interventions with each of them.
Staff members are working out ways to replicate the interventions from a distance or to find alternatives, Yahraes said.
School Board meetings
The regular School Board meeting remains scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Monday, April 13. The district is planning to use Zoom, an online video conferencing application, to conduct the meeting. Details on how to attend will be posted to the district’s website, sweethome.k12.or.us, later this week.
SIA funds
In preparation for a likely delay in the implementation of a corporate activity tax meant to boost education funding next school year through Student Investment Accounts, Yahraes is planning to begin prioritizing planned expenditures in anticipation of lower funding.
The district has identified $1.7 million in new expenditures for next year, with a new elementary music program, additional behavior support and other programs as part of its plan.
Construction
Construction is continuing at Sweet Home Junior High, Yahraes said. The district continues to check in with Gerding Builders on the status of subcontractors.
If subcontractors stop working, it could delay the project, he said, but at this point, there have been no major delays.
Lunch
The district continues to serve lunch at Foster School and Sweet Home High School from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Yahraes said the district is going to evaluate its supplies, demand and capacity and consider the possibility of blending services, such as transporting food by bus.
Sports
At this point, spring sports are suspended, Yahraes said. “I don’t expect it to come back at this point. That goes as well, potentially, with the school year.”
The direction is through April 28, he said Monday, April 6, but “we’ll be watching what the governor does.”
Gov. Kate Brown extended the closure through the end of the school year today, Wednesday, April 8.
School was canceled by the governor’s order beginning March 16 when Oregon had just 47 cases. When the governor announced the decision to close schools on March 12, the state had just 30 cases.
Given that, with 1,132 positive COVID-19 tests as of Monday, Yahraes expects to see the closure extended through the end of the school year. For more on sports, see page 18.