K-12 schools closed for rest of the year

OLYMPIA – In a joint appearance Monday afternoon, April 6, Gov. Jay Inslee and Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal 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.

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. Cheney and Medical Lake districts 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.”

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].