Some Kennewick students back in schools. Richland and Pasco kids to follow

Brittany McLaughlin’s 10-year-old daughter went back to class Thursday for the first time in months.

“She was so excited to go,” McLaughlin said. “She had a good time.”

She was one of 310 Kennewick students facing significant challenges to learning. The students are meeting once a week in groups of five at 17 schools.

It’s a help for McLaughlin’s daughter.

“She does better when it’s face to face,” said McLaughlin. “Last year we did a morning Zoom and it was hard for her for the hour we had it. I would have to sit next to her the whole time.”

Kennewick schools were the first Tri-City district to put a plan in place to help the students who are “educationally at-risk.”

A select group of Richland students are returning next week while Pasco is working on a plan for later this month.

While it is a change from the first weeks of school, it was expected.

At-risk students

Each of the districts said they planned to bring back the students that faced the most risk by being out of class.

It was part of the initial recommendation made by Dr. Amy Person, health officer for the Benton Franklin Health District, and it’s also part of the recommendations from the Washington State Department of Health.

“The school districts as the education experts are really the ones to decide how best to initiate and what groups of students to begin that small group learning with,” Dr. Person said.

For Kennewick and Richland, that means students with special needs.

Richland set its plans on Tuesday with the school board’s approval of the next stage of its “Return to School Plan.”

The district is bringing students back for up to two days a week to work with teachers, paraeducators and other staff.

Not every special needs student is included. Instead, the kids are in one of six categories.

That is meant to meet the needs of students who most need hands-on help, said Tracy Blankenship, the executive director of special education.

“This is an important first step in ensuring we are providing a free and appropriate public education for all of our students,” Blankenship said.

Special education staff are reaching out to families to begin planning for their return.

Pasco is putting together a more complicated formula that incorporates a variety of factors, including learning troubles, homelessness and the student’s engagement with online classes.

They will use all those factors to decide what students are at the highest risk for not succeeding.

It’s not clear how many students the district is going to serve per school. Susana Reyes, the assistant superintendent of operations and human resources, said the district is still working to determine who those students are.

Board member Steve Christensen said he wants to see as many kids back in the classroom as they can.

Health Risks

These are the first students to return to schools since schools shut down in March as part of efforts to slow COVID-19. And some parents remain concerned about their students returning in person.

Kennewick had 58 families turn down the opportunity to go back to class, said Robyn Chastain, the district’s executive director of communications and public relations.

Kennewick and Richland officials say they are taking a host of precautions to make sure students aren’t likely to spread the disease among each other. And Pasco is expected to take similar steps.

All the students and staff must finish a health screening before they come into the schools, wear masks when possible and wash their hands frequently.

District and school staff will continue to work closely with local health authorities in addressing the risks posed by COVID-19 in the community and reporting potential cases,” Richland officials said in a news release.

New cases of COVID-19 have been trending downward in Benton and Franklin counties in recent weeks.

Dr. Person announced that preliminary numbers this week show Benton County’s new cases have dropped just below 75 per 100,000 people during a two-week period.

And Franklin County cases are still at about 175 cases per 100,000.

“The health district, like many others in the community, we do want kids back in school. We know that’s where kids do the best,” she said.

McLaughlin said she isn’t concerned about COVID and wants her daughter to have more time in class where she tends to follow instructions from a teacher or paraeducator more than she does from a parent.

“I’m thankful, but it’s absolutely not enough. She deserves more,” McLaughlin said. “I understand if there are parents who are hesitant, but for my daughter and my family, we’re not scared. I do feel that she does deserve more and needs more.”