Inslee extends school closures

OLYMPIA -- Gov. Jay Inslee and Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal today announced the extension of school closures for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year. The order keeps both public and private schools closed in accordance with the governor's original order on March 13.

The governor's proclamation prohibits in-person instruction through June 19, with exceptions for students with disabilities and English language learners for whom distance learning would present challenges. Facilities remain accessible for limited use, including providing child care and packing take-home meals for students' families to pick up. All activities must follow Department of Health social distancing guidelines.

"This closure is guided by science and is our greatest opportunity to keep our kids, educators and communities safe," Inslee said at a news conference Monday afternoon. "If there is any opportunity to bring students back for a few days, including graduation ceremonies for our seniors, we will continue to explore that option. That opportunity will be guided by our collective behavior and the success we can achieve with the choices we make today."

Many local school districts, including Cheney and Medical Lake, have already begun online instruction, offering curriculum content via special pages on their websites.

"Although I anticipated the announcement was most likely coming, it felt terrible to hear the Governor share this news," Cheney School District Superintendent Rob Roettger said in a statement Monday night. "I felt like I had a pit in my stomach while listening to the press conference as I still clung to a small amount of hope that students and staff would return and we could complete the school year."

Inslee said students' grades will not suffer as a result of the closure and encouraged them to take advantage of remaining learning opportunities. The governor also asked teachers and administrators to work together on the best path forward for the remainder of the school year.

In Davenport, Superintendent Jim Kowalkowski said he and several other listening to the governor's remarks expressed hope that at least some form of graduation might be saved for this year's seniors. That hope was dashed with the word "no."

“At least we know now, and it should help us proceed forward," Kowalkowski said. "It's very disappointing, but I understand why the governor is doing what he did. He wants to keep students and staff and community safe, and parents. I get that."

School staff have been working on developing online curriculum since Inslee's original order of March 13, addressing issues of content but also of access as some families lack the technology needed for online instruction. Many districts such as in Cheney, Medical Lake and Davenport have issued Chromebooks to students, along with assessing some families' internet capabilities to ensure they have enough bandwidth for two, three or more students to be online at the same time.

“There is no question about it: Our educators and school staff are absolutely dedicated to continuing to provide supports for students and their learning,” Reykdal said. “We have already seen districts step up to provide meals for students in need and child care for the children of essential workers. Over the past three weeks, they have prepared for and begun providing continuous learning for students – and this will only get better and more sophisticated over time. We will continue serving our students and we will persevere through this.”

"We will have a ton of learning moving forward during this process," St. John/Endicott Superintendent Suzanne Schmick said in an email. "I'm just wanting to keep the focus of full support to the students, families, and staff during this time. We want to keep a positive outlook going forward. There might have to be some adjustments we will need to make along the way, but my biggest focus will be supporting these students, families, and staff.”

Lind-Ritzville Cooperative Schools Superintendent Don Vanderholm expressed similar feelings of disappointment, as well as adding that the district's staff is working hard to provide a quality online instruction program that, while not replacing traditional face-to-face learning, still offers the ability to move students' education forward. The most impacted by the recent decisions will be the 2020 senior class, but Vanderholm expressed optimism for their personal growth.

"I feel especially sorry for our seniors whose capstone year of education has been dramatically altered," he said in a statement late Monday night. "Even so they will be filled with grit and determination, and perhaps be the best prepared class, for post-secondary challenges, we have seen in a very long time."

Ritzville-Adams County Journal editor Katie Teachout and Whitman County Gazette reporter Victoria Fowler contributed to this story.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].