Scott Swanson
Sweet Home School District officials are figuring out how to implement guidelines released last week by the Oregon Department of Education for how schools should operate in the fall amid COVID-19.
The new rules will require more space per student, plenty of sanitization and face coverings, and changes in how students and teachers spend time together, said Supt. Tom Yahraes, who spent the weekend studying the requirements.
One thing is clear: School will likely look a lot different in the fall, according to Yahraes.
“It’s requiring us to analyze our facility spaces so we can follow social distancing guidelines to reopen,” he said.
Oregon Department of Education Director Colt Gill said in a statement that the blueprint developed in collaboration with Oregon Health Authority, entitled “Ready Schools, Safe Learners,” is a “model” of “statewide guidance,” developed under the leadership of Gov. Kate Brown, that each local school district should implement “independently.”
“We understand and honor the importance of local voice, leadership and control,” Gill said. “These individual plans will reflect the distinct strengths and needs of each district and community.”
“What the Oregon Department of Education has established is a process for school districts to listen to the community and develop health and safety plans that make sense for each district, each school, and each student,” Brown said in a statement announcing the plan. “Together, we will proceed cautiously, testing each step as we move forward, and taking a step back if necessary to protect the health and safety of our students, families, and education community.”
The requirements, announced Wednesday, June 10, include mandatory screening for symptoms of students and staff members when they get on a bus or enter school buildings. Schools must establish a minimum of 35 square feet per person for classroom capacity. And staff who regularly interact within 6 feet of students or staff must wear face coverings.
“Generally, there are two layers to this,” Yahraes said. “It provides local control, so we can submit our blueprints to the county for approval, as well as to the state. We’ll be working locally with data in Linn County, as well as overall guidance from ODE.”
Yahraes predicted the district is going to be working on the plan throughout the summer.
He said he has scheduled meetings over the next two weeks to address the guidelines “so we understand all the health and hygiene and safety protocols.”
Then officials will work on facility plans – social distancing, how many and how students populate classrooms, spacing requirements and so on.
“After that we’ll figure out recess, meal services, drop-off, pick-up and transportation.”
The 50-page document requires the district to work with the county, “where they’re at, what metrics they want us to follow,” then to develop a plan to meet the state requirements within the county’s parameters.
After that, the district will submit its blueprint to the School Board and county and, after getting feedback, will submit it to the state.
Yahraes said the district will “modify” classroom sizes, including opening up other rooms to be used for classroom purposes.
The guidelines also emphasize keeping students together in “cohorts.”
“We’ll be keeping clusters of kids together,” Yahraes said. “We’ll be rotating teachers from class to class, rather than students.”
In addition to heightened student safety, hygiene and cleaning protocols, pick-up and drop-off facilities will be modified, as will lunch and recess schedules, to minimize widespread interaction throughout the student body in schools, he said. Also, there will be protocols for screening and for when students display COVID-like symptoms.
He said some “hybrid” forms of the current distance-learning arrangements could be implemented in the fall, “possibly some students in school and some at home.” Those decisions will depend on data the district gets from the county.
Yahraes said the district needs to be “agile” enough to adjust to changing circumstances, employing distance learning or a hybrid, if necessary.
Yahraes said district administrators expect ongoing guidance changes from the ODE, including the next update, on June 30.
“That’s what we’ll be doing the next two weeks as the Administrative Team,” he said. “We’ll be prepping plans for next year. This will continue through the summer. As the document is updated, we’ll update our plans.”
Districts must review and make their re-entry blueprints available to the community by Aug. 15.
Gill said Brown is starting a statewide advisory panel to help develop guidance.
“We want to open up and we want kids back in class,” he said. “But we will be agile and we will be poised to do whatever it takes.”