The Deer Park school board voted Monday night to join a few other Spokane area school districts in adopting a hybrid format for the academic year.
That means parents will have the option of sending their children to school. They’ll also have the option of keeping their kids at home.
Superintendent Travis Hanson says the district will follow all of the state rules for spacing and hygiene. That means, he says, that children and parents bear some of the responsibility for keeping people safe.
“I want to be really clear when it comes to the screening, the PPE, the distancing, we need our families’ help. I’ll be working with families. We’ll be communicating with families just to let them know if they’ll be participating in the in-person experience, the only way this works is if we work together. If our staff is provided the support that they need in buildings to have kids following these guidelines, these requirements, we need our parents support in that," Hanson said.
Mead and East Valley are the other local districts that have adopted hybrid formats. Others, such as Spokane, Central Valley, Cheney and Medical Lake, are starting with all distancing learning for now.
Spokane County Health Officer Bob Lutz is skeptical about teaching children in classrooms right now.
“Statistically you know that you’re going to see cases in schools. I don’t think that’s going to change. So I think that, yes, I fully expect to see cases and outbreaks in schools," Lutz said.
And that, he says, will cause all kinds of complications. State guidelines help districts determine what to do if a student or staff member tests positive for Covid. That can include closing a school if two or more classrooms are dismissed because of positive cases.
Are rural schools at an advantage because they are smaller and have fewer students? Lutz says no.
“Even in, quote unquote, remote areas, we are seeing Covid-19 pop up. Look at what’s happening in Northeast Tri. I talked with my colleagues down in Asotin County and we had five cases over the past week," he said.
The Northeast Tri to which Lutz referred is the Northeast Tri-County Health District, which serves Ferry, Stevens and Pend Oreille counties. Positive case rates there have increased over the last month or so.
Lutz says he agrees there are cases where districts can safely create in-person instructional opportunities for students with special learning needs.
