New state and county metrics for COVID-19 cases will cause delays in school openings this fall, keeping online learning on the slate until the requirements are met.
Superintendent Andy Gardner said the North Santiam School District will follow a Comprehensive Distance Learning model beginning Sept. 14, a week later than the district usually starts so training can be implemented to best accomplish the new program.
“Students will be working online with the teacher that we intend to eventually be their homeroom teacher when we can reinstate in-person school,” Gardner said. “Many parents have concerns about distance learning, based on their experiences in the spring. We acknowledge the difficulties many families faced and we are motivated to offer as much as we can within the guidelines.”
In the meantime, Gardner said the district will be designing limited small-group instruction, by which small groups of students can be brought in each day to work directly with staff.
“These small groups will focus on students who need the most support,” he said of the program to begin Oct. 1, “and we are limited by state guidelines to the total number of students each week in each building.”
According to Gardner, the district will also be looking to implement a return to direct instruction for early elementary K-3 students when case numbers in Marion and Linn Counties allows that to happen.
“We do not see this happening within the next couple of months, but parents can track this at the Oregon Health Authority,” he said. “As of Aug. 9, Linn County has a case rate of 41 cases per 100,000 residents, while Marion County has a case rate of 84 cases per 100,000.”
In order for schools to reopen its county or counties must have 10 cases per 100,000 residents or lower.
The district must fit the parameters of the mandated guidelines to re-open schools, he said, noting “that all schools in the district have students who reside in both counties by our enrollment boundaries.”
Cascade School District’s operational blueprint for the upcoming school year starts with all students in comprehensive distance learning and will move to in-person education should state and county metrics allow for schools to reopen, according to Superintendent Darren Drill.
“Our hope is that we can meet these metrics by the middle of October,” Drill told parents. “We will also be providing an online learning option throughout the entire school year for those families who are considering keeping their children home.
“When we meet the state and county health metrics and students return to our school buildings, all students in the CDL model will have the option to transition to Cascade Online if families are uncomfortable sending their student to in-person schooling,” Drill said. “Students who start the school year in Cascade Online will only be able to transition to CDL or in-person schooling at the end of a trimester.”
Regis St. Mary Catholic School teachers will work primarily with a synchronous five-day learning schedule (live instruction with teachers), and will provide opportunities for small groups, one-on-one support and individual work times. Learning Coaches will be available to support students after school hours while distance learning.
“Our Wednesday schedules will be focused on faith, community building, social and emotional health, STEAM activities and also college and career support for our high school students,” Principal Candi Hedrick said. “Wednesdays are also the days we will set aside to provide two-hours blocks of optional in-person instruction.”
Hedrick said Regis St. Mary has applied for its Emergency Childcare License and still plans to open its preschool program on Sept. 8 under the Health and Safety Guidelines for Child Care and Early Education Operation during COVID-19.
