Cheney schools delay reopening dates

CHENEY — School district officials told board members at their Dec. 2 meeting that work on reopening schools to in-person student instruction had been put on pause as requested by the Spokane Regional Health District. The Health District cited sharply rising identification of positive cases and hospitalizations locally and across the state of COVID-19 as a reason for the pause.

Public Schools Superintendent Rob Roettger told the board the district’s tentative plans would have had third-grade students returning to in-person instruction on Dec. 7 for families who indicated they wished to do so. Onsite instruction for special needs students began in late-September, with kindergarten students returning in October and first and second-grade students back in early November.

All in-person instruction is being done through state and local health protocols for preventing the spread of coronavirus, including required facial coverings and social distancing along with frequent handwashing and sanitization measures.

Roettger said the new plans have third-grade students returning tentatively on Jan. 11, 2021, with fourth and fifth-grade students back in a hybrid instruction model 1-2 weeks after that. Secondary education students grades 6 – 12 could tentatively return Feb. 1, with discussions taking place with Health District officials about the possibility of allowing cohorts of at-risk students to return sooner, such as seniors who are failing courses, special services students and others.

Teaching and Learning Director Annie Wolfley told the board they were continuing with development of reopening plans and specifics despite the pause in the actual process. Hybrid planning committees for each level consisting of 21 teachers for fourth and fifth-grade, 18 teachers for middle school and 14 teachers for high school are looking at a variety of ideas and plans for hybrid learning models, utilizing guiding principals that will enable “flexibility and responsiveness” in the district’s approach.

Among these are health and safety of students, families and communities; options for consistency and educational equity across the district, opening schools for face-to-face learning for as many students as possible, scheduling needs of families and supporting the “social, emotional needs of students, staff, families and communities. Specific to the latter are the needs of students impacted by the lack of onsite instruction.

“We believe they’re suffering right now not having that in-person connection,” Wolfley said.

Wolfley said they were currently working on creating plans to support students who are the furthest away from educational justice that includes an instructional model and schedule, with each hybrid team working on similar plans for their specific grade levels. She said they hope to present these plans to the board at its Dec. 16 meeting, and are trying to determine “drop dead dates” for when they can notify families that the dates for resuming some in-person instruction are firm and not tentative.

Roettger added that staff understand the students, parents and the community’s frustration with not reopening schools more quickly.

“I want to say this, and I’m going to say this publicly, I want students in school,” Roettger said. “We want students in school. I think there’s this misconception that schools do not want to reopen. That is not the case.”

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].