Another Pierce County school district likely will be in distance learning until 2021
The Puyallup School District released an updated schedule for the return to classrooms at its Monday evening school board meeting.
Board president Kathy Yang said the priority has been to return students to in-person learning as soon as possible, but a surge in COVID-19 numbers has halted plans.
“Based on current case numbers still on a rising trend and the above parameters, we do not believe it is likely we would be able to return to in-person school before winter break,” she said.
That means continued distance learning for most of the district’s students until January.
The district is adhering to state counsel on phased reopening.
At the Herald’s deadline, the district sat in Phase 3 of its seven-staged dial to return to full in-person learning for all.
In Phase 3, most students continue remote learning and some have hybrid learning, like developmental preschool and special education students. Small groups and staff are allowed in schools.
The state recommends that counties with case counts between 25 to 75 per 100,000 over a 14-day span begin incorporating hybrid models of in-person learning and online school while monitoring COVID-19 case counts.
Pierce County’s reported COVID-19 cases have increased into a third surge, the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department said. As of Oct. 19, the 14-day case rate per 100,000 was 110.6.
The local health department told school districts a downward trend needs to be sustained for about two weeks. Then the district needs to give teachers another two weeks to transition from remote learning to in-person instruction, Yang said.
The tentative schedule for bringing students back by grade is:
Kindergarten and first grade: Unlikely before January for four days a week of in-person learning
Second grade to sixth grade: unlikely before January to return for two-days-a-week instruction
Seventh grade to 12th grade and Edgemont’s sixth grade: students will return no sooner than February in the second semester for two-days-a-week in the classroom.
Those already in classrooms will attend less frequently and in smaller class-sizes.
About 700 students in special education self-contained classes and developmental preschool have been at school four days a week since early October, assistant superintendent Vince Pecchia told the board.
As cases of the coronavirus continue to increase, the district has decided to limit in-person instruction to two days a week with a five-student cap on class sizes.
The teacher’s union and parents have voiced their support over waiting to return to in-person classes. The district had planned to return to school earlier this month, but the administration rescinded the announcement five days prior to the return after a surge in cases of the coronavirus.
In light of the increased reported COVID-19 cases and potential large holiday gatherings, Puyallup Education Association’s President Karen McNamara supports the district’s decision to be cautious.
“The last thing we would want to do is come back too soon and have to start the roller coaster all over again,” the union president said. “That instability isn’t good for anyone.”
