Tacoma schools roll out options for fall. None includes full-time, in-person instruction
Tacoma Public Schools has revealed its latest and most specific options to date for returning to school in the fall.
The district rolled out the plans at a school board meeting on Thursday evening.
“Our intent with these options is to offer these as options for families,” Deputy Superintendent Josh Garcia said at the meeting. “We are working toward facilitating all of these options, with the intent to say, ‘Families, what works best for you in your schedule?’”
The options are broken down by elementary, middle and high school levels. Each level includes both a full online option and a hybrid option, where students attend school in-person for a few days of the week and participate remotely for the rest of the week.
None of the options included a full-time in-person schedule, despite state Superintendent Chris Reykdal saying earlier this month he expected students to return to in-person learning with appropriate social distancing guidelines in place for the COVID-19 pandemic. That guidance left some districts grappling with what that meant for them.
Reykdal clarified his guidance in a video on Saturday, saying it was “very unlikely, almost impossible” that “every single student” would return for face-to-face instruction.
“It’s going to be a great opportunity in a lot of places, but it just simply can’t happen everywhere for all students,” Reykdal said in the video.
In Tacoma, the district used survey feedback from families to help develop its options.
Staff, students and visitors will be required to wear masks, and the district must have a six-foot social distancing plan for every learning space. That doesn’t include hallways and transportation.
“We’re in the middle of space-constraint analysis,” Garcia said at Thursday’s meeting. “We’re taking every physical classroom, and we’re looking at the the square footage, and then we have maps that we can apply, to say how many students can fit in this specific learning space?”
Garcia reminded the board and the public the options are fluid and the number of days students can come to school might change, depending on the phase of the governor’s reopening plan the county is in at the start of school.
Elementary schools
The district is offering two options for elementary schools.
Option 1 is a complete online learning option. A center for in-person support would be available for families and students if they need it.
Option 2 is a hybrid model, or a combination of in-person class time and virtual, distance-learning time. The option suggests 2-3 in-person class days per week.
Middle schools
The district is offering two options for middle school students.
Option 1 is a complete online learning option. A center for in-person support would be available for families and students if they need it.
Option 2 is a hybrid model, or a combination of in-person class time and virtual, distance-learning time. The option suggests 1-2 in-person class days per week, with athletics and activities opportunities.
High schools
The district is offering three options for high school students.
Option 1 is a complete online learning option. A center for in-person support would be available for families and students if they need it.
Option 2 continues non-traditional high school experiences, including Pierce County Skills Center, Willie Stewart Academy and the Running Start college program.
Option 3 is a hybrid model, or a combination of in-person class time and virtual, distance-learning time. The option suggests 1-2 in-person class days per week, with athletics and activities opportunities.
This story was originally published June 26, 2020 at 7:00 AM.
