Washington K-12 buildings closed through school year

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K-12 students across the state won’t be heading back to their buildings for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year as Gov. Jay Inslee announced today, April 6, that public and private schools will remain closed to in-person instruction through the end of the year.

Inslee’s announcement extends an original order made March 13 that closed school at least until April 24 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the decision to extend was “based on clear epidemiological evidence” that justified the extension.

“We cannot risk losing the gains we have made after the peak of this pandemic presumably has passed,” Inslee said, adding that efforts to prevent the disease’s spread must be as intense when the “curve” of cases winds down as it was as it was rising.

Inslee said all schools will continue distance learning through the end of the 2019-2020 school year. The extension order will allow educators to focus on distance learning procedures and curriculum, he said.

Inslee said that seniors in good academic standing should expect to still graduate this year.

“Your grades will not suffer because of this,” Inslee said, addressing students. “Your educators will continue teaching, though it will look different, certainly, than what you’re used to.”



Inslee said that in certain cases the order allows for limited in-person learning for English as a second language students, students with disabilities and other vulnerable student populations, using similar distancing and prevention guidelines as used in child care.

The governor also said the state was exploring hosting graduation ceremonies after the school year’s end “as the evidence continues to come in.” He said it will be a decision guided in part by how effective the state handles the outbreak in the coming weeks.

With the order, Washington was one of 14 states closed through the school year, Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal said, adding that Idaho and Oregon were considering doing such.

Reykdal said that extending the closure required significant contemplation, though he advised that should school be back in session in buildings, “the second there would be a case in a student or faculty member, the entire school would shut down. We would clean up for two to five days. We would have to trace and track as many of those contacts as possible.”

“A rush back to school puts significant risk in learning continuity that at this time would not be better than the model we are developing and advancing at a distance,” Reykdal said. “We do not want that curve to suddenly spike up because we acted too quickly to come back.”