Cheney schools return to full time

CHENEY - Come April 19, all students in the Cheney School District should be back to full-time, in-person instruction.

The final piece of the transition from all-online instruction instituted last spring in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to resuming in-person instruction in as much of a normal setting as allowed took place last Wednesday night, March 31, with the school board's approval of a plan to return all secondary level students to campuses, beginning on April 19.

One week prior to that, April 12, will see the return to full in-person instruction for fourth and fifth-grade students. Students K-3 began returning to campuses last fall, and were gradually phased in over several months.

The move was made possible partly from the relaxation of the six-foot physical distancing requirement, first by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and subsequently by Washington state officials. Officials now believe three-feet of physical distancing is adequate to prevent spread of the coronavirus, with six-feet still being required under certain conditions such as during meals, between adults and in certain programs such as band, choir and physical education.

Under the plan approved by the Cheney School Board, students at both Cheney and Westwood middle schools along with the high school will be in class at the school buildings from 9:30 a.m. – 1:45 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Wednesday's will be a late start, with class running from 10:30 a.m. – 1:45 p.m.

"The secondary schedule will remain the same through the week of April 12th with the exception of Wednesday, April 14th, which will be a complete asynchronous day without mandatory afternoon Zoom classes," Superintendent Rob Roettger said in an email to parents April 1.

In producing the plan, Roettger told the board on March 31 that the district took into account its unique circumstances, rather than looking at what other school districts were doing based upon their own situations. Central Valley School District is returning to full in-person instruction five days a week for all students on April 12 as are students in the Freeman School District.

Roettger said they also needed to come up with a plan that allowed them to "pivot" from in-person instruction back to all-online should circumstances with the spread of COVID-19 require counties to move backwards in their reopening phases. The approved in-person schedule is nearly identical to the one currently being used under the district's hybrid model, which would create the least amount of disruption should they have to move back.

The move also needed to have the least amount of impact on elementary school schedules and families in the district. There are still issues with transportation that need to be worked out, especially given the reduced amount of seating being used in order to conform with health protocols and reduced number of routes to a lack of bus drivers. The district is currently short 18 bus drivers from its normal complement of about 55.

Besides the relaxation of physical distancing requirements in some cases, the district's return is also helped out by its receipt of federal funding. The district received $2,662,509 in ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Economic Relief) II funds from the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act enacted in December, money it still has available, and is projected to receive $5.98 million in ESSER III funds from the recently passed American Relief Plan Act, although there still are questions surrounding how that funding might be used.

"We have to be thoughtful about these one-time funds," Roettger said. "This is once, right."

Roettger also said the move to return to full-time in-person instruction doesn't mean the district or the community should relax and view the pandemic as being over and life is back to normal. Health and safety protocols such as maintaining physical distancing, regular handwashing and sanitation and wearing of facial coverings is still needed to continue in reopening efforts.

"We need to double down on being cautious," Roettger said. "Do the things we're being asked to do. They've got us to this point."

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].