PORTLAND, Ore. — Right now, school districts all over Oregon are developing or finalizing plans for limited in-person instruction or hybrid learning.
KGW decided to see where area districts are at in the process
This week, many teachers in Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas counties are preparing to get their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as part of a big effort to vaccinate teachers at the Oregon Convention Center.
But each district has its own timeline.
Tigard-Tualatin School District
At a school board meeting Monday night, Tigard-Tualatin School District (TTSD) officials talked about plans to phase in limited in-person instruction this week.
“The first group of students that will be coming into our building will be small numbers of elementary students with disabilities that significantly impact their ability to access anything related to comprehensive distance learning,” said Carol Kinch, the TTSD student services director.
Scott Herron, head of the Tigard-Tualatin Education Association, said it’s voluntary for teachers involved in this first phase of limited in person instruction. He’s glad this week many teachers and staff will begin to get their first dose of the vaccine.
“If everything works according to plan in about three to five weeks we can get everybody their first shot,” said Herron.
Estacada starts hybrid learning this week
The Estacada School District started full days of hybrid in-person instruction for kindergartners and first graders this week.
Other districts push back in-person start dates
But other districts are pushing back start dates.
At a school board meeting Monday night, the West Linn-Wilsonville school district announced it’s pushing back the start of hybrid instruction by two weeks, to Feb. 22. It, like many other districts in the state, has had limited in-person instruction in place for a while now.
Lake Oswego is also pushing back its in-person start date to late February, though no specific day was announced.
Portland Public Schools
Portland Public Schools is planning to offer limited in-person instruction for the most in-need kids at more than a dozen schools. The majority of schools are set to start limited in-person learning next week.
Salem-Keizer School District
The Salem-Keizer School District plans to expand limited in-person instruction sometime in March. The district has already had limited in-person instruction in place for the most in-need students.
According to a Jan. 19 school board meeting, the district hopes to move forward with hybrid or “blended” learning next month.
“We are still on track to begin a blended model as early as late February,” said Kraig Sproles, assistant superintendent.
No specific date was given by Salem-Keizer school officials.
Sylvia McDaniel, spokesperson for the district, said they’ve tentatively set an online parent and family forum for Feb. 4 from 6 p.m.-7 p.m. in English and 7:15 p.m.-8:15 p.m. in Spanish.
“With our other non-English speaking parents our dynamic Equity Team will be reaching out to each of those families personally with information on potential blended learning,” said McDaniel in an e-mail.
McDaniel said more information will be available on February 1.
Beaverton School District
The Beaverton School District on Wednesday announced it will begin limited in-person instruction on Feb. 22 at 29 schools. Staff will contact students who are eligible.
The district plans to begin hybrid learning, starting with pre-kindergarten through 2nd grade, as early as April 5. The plan is contingent on meeting the advisory metrics from state health and education leaders.
In a Facebook post from last week, the district touched on misconceptions as to why some districts may take longer to announce limited reopening. One of them centers on liability.
The post said if a district chooses to “…begin in-person instruction without meeting advisory health metrics…” it could “…face expensive lawsuits…” if anyone were to get sick or die from COVID-19.