CHENEY — In accordance with Gov. Jay Inslee’s state-wide public school mandate and Center for Disease Control recommendations, the Cheney School District will require masks for the 2021-2022 academic year. The announcement arrives in the wake of rising COVID-19 infections across the nation and a fast-approaching start date for Washington State schools.
“It’s important to note that the critical action, such as masking, are not at our discretion as a local school district. It not at the discretion of our superintendent or our school board,” school district Data and Assessment Coordinator Carol Lewis said. “We are required to participate in the public health measure that are in place for in-person learning.”
A Washington State Department of Health release stated that the recommendations seek to achieve two goals: “Minimize transmission of COVID-19 among students and staff in K-12 schools and to their families and broader community,” and “maximize in-person instruction.” The statement goes on to stipulate that face covers must be worn regardless of vaccination status and reiterates that face covers are still considered the strongest defense against transmission of the virus.
In addition to the mask issue, a finalized staggered-start schedule has been approved and released on the Cheney School District website. Betz, Snowden, Sunset and Windsor Elementary Schools with begin at 7:30 a.m.. and end at 2:20 p.m. Salnave Elementary School will begin at 8:35 a.m. and end at 3:05 p.m. Cheney Middle school, Westwood Middle, and Cheney High School will begin at 8:55 a.m. and end at 3:35 p.m. Each Friday, there will be a one hour late start.
Neither alternative schools, Three Springs High School and HomeWorks!, have determine a beginning or end time, but that information is anticipated to be released soon.
The decision to adopt a staggered start pertains to a lack of bus drivers, increasing student populations, athletics, childcare, and problems created by a dispersed population within the school boundaries. “We were doing K-12, everybody at once, as long as we could,” said Superintendent Robert Roettger. “We just reached that point where, you know, [we have] fewer bus drivers, more students. It’s not feasible any longer.”
The total number of enrolled students has remained within the anticipated budget at 5,004, despite the addition of the largest freshman class Cheney High School has ever seen, with 447 students. This is a nearly 50% increase from the class of 2020 that boasted 300 graduates. The number of enrolled students is still expected to increase across August as parents enroll kindergarteners for the upcoming school year. The school district has prepared for the increase, anticipating up to 5,030 possible students.
“I started in 2016 and we were at 4,400 new students then,” Roettger said “600 more is about another school within our system . . .The growth has slowed, of course, with the pandemic and all those different things, but I believe, and we know, that West Plains will continue to grow as things pick up again.”
Scott Davis can be reached at [email protected].
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