‘Long time coming.’ Kennewick votes to send middle and high school students to back to class
All Kennewick students will be back in schools for at least two days a week.
In a 4-1 vote, the school board signed off Wednesday night on a plan that would bring middle school students back by Jan. 25 and high school students back on Feb. 2.
The students have been out of classrooms since the middle of March 2020, when Gov. Jay Inslee ordered schools to close.
“I will just say that I think that this is a long time coming and I am glad that as a board we can finally address it again,” said board member Heather Kintzley. “Hopefully, we can get our kids back in school.”
The move came after a new recommendation from the Benton Franklin Health District’s Health Officer Dr. Amy Person that schools should start returning secondary level students back to class.
She said as long as the schools follow safety measures, such as wearing masks and maintaining a 6-foot distance, she does not expect schools to spreading COVID-19 in the community.
Person’s recommendation agree with Washington state’s recommendation that “when trends in cases and hospitalizations are flat or decreasing, and the school can demonstrate the ability to limit transmission” to expand in-person instruction.
Case rates in Benton and Franklin counties continue to remain high, but they have stayed static in recent weeks.
The state’s recommendation only calls for bringing back elementary students when cases are above 350 per 100,000 people over a two-week period, but Person said the local schools have shown they can do it safely.
For the two week period ending on Jan. 6, Benton County had 638 new cases per 100,000.
Tuesday night the Richland School Board also voted to send its middle and high school students back to classrooms. Sixth-grade students will start returning on Jan. 27 and all students will return by Feb. 22.
The Pasco district has no set return dates for middle and high schools.
Safety consultant
Kennewick has brought in an outside consultant to review the safety procedures schools will use for the incoming students and for the elementary students currently attending classes in person.
The new schedule will divide students into two groups to attend class either Monday and Tuesday or Thursday and Friday between 8 a.m. and 12:45 p.m.
They would be sent home with a lunch at that time, and would spend the rest of their day learning online. The teachers would then hold 15-minute online Zoom sessions for the students who are at home so they can check in with how they are doing.
If a parent isn’t ready to send their student back, they will have an option to keep them at home learning remotely.
They will then be able to check in with teachers through the afternoon Zoom sessions.
The lone vote opposing the move came from Diane Sundvik, who did not explain her position.
This story was originally published January 13, 2021 at 7:43 PM.