Administrators in Spokane’s two largest school districts have announced their schools will not start their academic year in classrooms.
The Spokane and Central Valley School Districts say they will offer parents a handful of distance learning options.
Central Valley Superintendent Ben Small said his district made its decision after receiving a recommendation from county Health Officer Bob Lutz.
“Our announcement of virtual start will be a disappointment for some and a relief for others," Small said. "Our role as the Central Valley School District, again, is to go back to our stated aim of meeting our families where they’re at and being able to provide them with the best option as we go forward."
Spokane Superintendent Adam Swinyard says parents in his district can choose full-year distance learning or an option that allows for a transition to classroom learning, if that becomes possible later. Both would involve live instruction with teachers.
“It’ll be a real-time school day. So there will be a start and a dismissal. There will be specific times just as it was in a typical day in our school buildings for each subject and period. It’ll look different and it will certainly be challenging across grade levels and course of study," Swinyard said.
Both districts will also allow students to study online at their own pace.
Swinyard says the district will work to create in-person instruction for small groups of children with special needs and others for whom virtual learning doesn’t work.
In both districts, parents will have two or three weeks to decide the best options for their children. For at least a short while, they’ll also have the chance to change their minds if their original option isn’t working.
Both school boards will have to approve their respective districts’ plans and submit them to the state superintendent’s office in Olympia for approval.