From Brinnon to Port Townsend, each of Jefferson County’s four school districts adopted plans in the past week for educating students as safely as possible amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
District officials also spent the past week soliciting the preferences of students and their families regarding entirely remote learning or a blend of remote and in-person learning. Now, officials are busy following up with families individually to confirm their choices and, in some cases, develop specially tailored plans.
“Many families are choosing distance learning,” said Sarah Rubenstein, spokeswoman for Port Townsend School District, which will reopen on Sept. 8.
“While we would love to see every kid in person if we can, we know that’s not what many families feel comfortable with at this point.”
As of Thursday, Jefferson County had logged a total of 64 confirmed cases of COVID-19, several of which were reported in the past week. That has raised the county’s two-week infection rate to 18.8 cases per 100,000 residents as of Thursday, up from 15.7 cases a week earlier.
By comparison, Clallam County’s rate as Friday was 97 cases per 100,000 residents while Kitsap County’s rate as of Thursday was 53.3 cases per 100,000 residents.
Counties with fewer than 25 new cases per 100,000 residents over a two-week period are considered low risk, under recommendations issued Aug. 5 by Gov. Jay Inslee and Chris Reykdal, the state Superintendent of Public Instruction. They are encouraged to adopt a mix of in-person and distance learning for middle- and high-school students, and full-time, in-person learning for elementary students.
Counties with 25 or more cases per 100,000 residents are considered moderate risk and advised to consider possible in-person learning for elementary students only, while those with 75 or more cases per 100,000 residents are considered high risk and encouraged to stick to distance learning for all students.
The board for Brinnon School District, which serves students through eighth grade, voted unanimously Tuesday evening to adopt its plan, which lets families choose either remote learning, full in-person learning with remote learning on Wednesdays or a plan tailored to a family’s unique needs.
Brinnon’s first day of school – Wednesday, Sept. 2 – will be held in person, with the following Wednesdays held remotely.
Quilcene School District’s board approved its five-step plan Monday but won’t settle on which step to start with until this coming Wednesday. On a weekly basis thereafter, Superintendent Frank Redmon will re-evaluate and make adjustments if necessary. Thje first day of school is Sept. 2.
The district’s five-step plan is based on Jefferson County’s risk level as well as the risk level of Clallam and Kitsap counties. The plan ranges from distance learning for all grade levels at Step 1 to in-person instruction four days a week at Step 5.
Chimacum School District’s board voted unanimously Wednesday to adopt its plan, which allows students at any grade level to opt for remote learning but requires remote learning for 10th- through 12th-graders.
The plan divides all students who chose the blended model into cohorts attending in-person classes on Mondays and Tuesdays or Thursdays and Fridays with Wednesdays devoted to outdoor activities, targeted in-person support, extra services for special education students and professional development for teachers and staff.
The first day of school is Sept. 8.
Port Townsend School District’s board approved its plan Thursday evening, which also allows students at any grade level to opt for fully remote learning, or a mix of two days of in-class instruction in 15-student cohorts and three days of remote learning. For high-schoolers, the blended option is limited to 125 students.
The district has also seen demand for OCEAN, its alternative learning program, rise from an average enrollment of 70 students to more than 100, Rubenstein said.
“We knew more families would choose that over the more traditional model,” she said, noting that the district plans to accommodate that enrollment by shifting teacher resources from the high school and will follow up with families to make sure they understand the program’s emphasis on parent involvement.
“I think some families recognized that if you are going to have to be more involved anyway, this is an ideal opportunity to do that,” she said.
The YMCA of Jefferson County is partnering with the Port Townsend and Chimacum school districts to provide child care on remote-learning days as well as services before and after the school day, Rubenstein said.
“Families are either experiencing stress due to economic hardships or because they are working at home with their kids at home,” she said, “and we know all of those things are stressors and none of it is ideal.”
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Jefferson County reporter Nicholas Johnson can be reached by email at njohnson@peninsuladailynews.com.