3 Pierce County school districts plan to return to full-time in-person class this fall
The Puyallup School District and Sumner-Bonney Lake School District announced this week the return to full in-person learning next school year.
In a study session on April 8, the Peninsula School District also announced its plan for five days a week of in-person learning for all grades in the 2021-2022 school year.
All grades are planned to be in the classroom five days a week for the beginning of the 2021-22 school year at Puyallup’s 22,000-student district, Sumner-Bonney Lake’s nearly 10,000-student district, and Peninsula’s 9,000-student district.
”Health and safety measures, including mask wearing and physical distancing, will likely remain requirements, but we are committed to returning to the classroom and see how that works,” Puyallup’s Communications Director Sarah Gillispie said in an email to families.
An update to school guidance could change Puyallup’s plan, she said.
“State guidance can always affect our return of students, but we have been chartered with planning for a return of all students,” she said.
The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction told The News Tribune there is an expectation for all schools to reopen next fall.
“I don’t think it’s in written guidance, but we meet with school district superintendents regularly and Superintendent (Chris) Reykdal has made clear that we expect all schools to reopen fully for in-person instruction in the fall,” director of communications Katy Payne said.
In the Puyallup’s most recent data from the week of April 19, 10 students and staff tested positive for the coronavirus and 33 were directed to quarantine.
The Peninsula School District’s data reports that there have been zero COVID-19 cases over the past 14 days that originated within school facilities and 10 COVID-19 cases during the 14-day period that originated outside the school buildings.
Tacoma Public Schools with 30,000 students reported 42 positive cases and 24 students and staff quarantines during that time span.
Puyallup
No registration for in-person school is required beyond new students and those entering kindergarten in Puyallup. The COVID-19 vaccine will not be required for school entry in Puyallup.
Seventy-five percent of Puyallup’s students are enrolled in hybrid learning, which offers some days of remote learning and others in the classroom. Kindergarten is in-person five days a week and first grade through third grade attend four days a week. Fourth grade and up are in the classroom two days a week. Grades 4-12 are two days a week in-person.
Students enrolled in the distanced learning program, Continuous Distance Learning, who want to continue will be offered the alternative option of Puyallup Digital Learning, a district online school program.
If families are interested in the distanced learning option, they can submit the Program Interest Survey, open from April 30 to May 7. Fall enrollment for remote learning will open in late spring, Gillispie said. The families can find the survey on the district website and it will be sent out to families.
“Like all districts, we will be impacted by whatever health and safety measures the Department of Health decides to issue as requirements,” Superintendent John Plom said in a statement. “While we plan for a return of all students, we are still committed to providing alternatives to families.”
Peninsula
Peninsula said in a board study session on April 8 that students being home schooled or who exited the district would need to re-enroll. The district is preparing to recuperate a 50 percent decline of lost enrollment next fall. Preliminary projections show there is no need to cut certified staff, district staff said in the meeting.
Peninsula plans to continue with three feet of distance between students. While eating and unmasked, students will have six feet of social distancing guideline. Adults still need to be six feet apart from children and other adults, staff said in the meeting.
“In general, most classroom would be able to accommodate normal class size,” a Peninsula presentation said. “Some odd-shaped classrooms may need to have fewer students than in regular times.”
Sumner-Bonney Lake
In Sumner-Bonney Lake, an announcement on the district website said three-foot distancing and face coverings will still be required.
“We will continue to respond to changing guidelines and provide updated information as needed,” Sumner-Bonney Lake School District said. “That said, our intention at this time is to provide full-time in-person instruction for every Sumner-Bonney Lake student.”
On March 16, all Sumner-Bonney Lake students returned to hybrid, in-person learning. The Sumner-Bonney Lake School District is not requiring a COVID-19 vaccine for students to enroll, spokesperson Elle Warmuth said in an email.
Children enrolled in grades K-12 will be automatically rolled up to the next grade level and re-registration is not required, she said.
Families with students who are homeschooled or are attending school through a third party vendor do need to re-register.
“The only students who need to register are those not currently attending our district or those who are moving up from preschool to kindergarten,” Warmuth said.
The Sumner-Bonney Lake School District reported 11 positive cases of COVID-19 and quarantined 79 students and staff from April 19 to 23.
This story was originally published April 30, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
