Sequim schools eye plans for fall reopening

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, May 19, 2021

Sequim school leaders have some homework to complete.

The Sequim School District’s board of directors on Monday got their first look at the district’s plans to host in-person instruction at Sequim schools for the 2021-2022 academic year, coming on the heels of state superintendent Chris Reykdal’s May 13 announcement that all Washington state students will be learning from their school buildings full-time this fall.

The state will require that each public, charter and tribal school have a Student Academic and Well-Being Recovery Plan by June 1, Sequim interim superintendent Jane Pryne said.

Sequim’s “Fall Back to School Plan 2021-2022” revealed Monday night will need to get board approval — likely at a special meeting on Monday, May 24, with the one action item — to meet the state’s June 1 deadline, Pryne said.

The plan, available at sequimschools.org, details procedures for maintaining healthy classroom buildings designed to mitigate the possible spread of COVID-19, including appropriate physical distancing, wellness screening procedures and mask policies.

“Right now masks are optional (in the community) but we will all be in masks unless they tell us differently,” Pryne said.

“We’re all be in on masks, but you never know. We start school in three months. A lot can happen in three months.”

Guidelines indicate elementary school students will need to keep at least 3 feet apart, while all students need to stay 6 feet apart during lunches.

“That is tricky, when you have 800 students on a high school campus, even if you have 3 lunches,” Pryne noted in a special May 6 meeting to address back-to-school plans.

Vaccinations will not be required, Pryne said.

“We are encouraging anyone who would like to get (a vaccination shot) to do so but we are not requiring it at this point.”

On Monday, Pryne told directors that Dr. Allison Berry, Clallam County’s health officer, oversees how schools will address mask usage.

“She’s ultimately who makes the decision on masking and how far apart we can be,” Pryne said.

Pryne also noted that superintendents of neighboring school districts are coordinating efforts to be “on the same page.”

The “Fall Back to School Plan 2021-2022” had input from all five school principals, district department leads, and some assistant principals and teachers.

“We feel we had a well rounded group of people for the plan,” Pryne said.

Additionally, Pryne said, the district sought comments from district parents through a survey in early May. On Monday, she detailed survey results that saw more than 490 families — about a quarter of the families in the district — completed the survey. She said another survey is being developed.

Pryne noted that Dungeness Virtual School is looking to expand to offer services for students in grades 2-5.

“There are people who really want their students in an online program,” she said.

“We have a great plan in front of us,” Sequim School Board president Brandino Gibson said Monday. “And then we pivot or adjust as things change. It’s been a non-norm for over a year now.”

Reykdal in his May 13 press release noted that students may choose to enroll in a remote learning program, but that “school districts may not offer hybrid or remote learning to the exclusion of full-time, in-person learning for any student who seeks that option.”

He added, “Most students are more successful in a comprehensive, in-person learning environment surrounded by their peers and caring adults. Extended time in remote and hybrid learning has had negative impacts on many of our students’ mental and behavioral health, as well as their engagement with and success in school.”

On the same day, the state Department of Health released health and safety guidance for K–12 schools for summer 2021 and the 2021-2022 school year; find it at tinyurl.com/DOHschools.

Other board action

• Board directors hear proposals from two firms — the Tacoma-based Wenaha Group and Vanir, a national construction firm — to oversee a $15 million capital projects levy plans voters approved in February. The funds will address what district officials note are a long list of needed facility and technology upgrades. Vanir oversaw construction of the district’s most recent capital projects levy that built the central district kitchen and deconstructed the unused Sequim Community School. The board looks to make a selection on the firm at their regularly scheduled June 7 meeting.

• Board directors encourage community members and school advocates to fill out an online survey as the district searches for its next superintendent (find the survey here: tinyurl.com/SSDsuper). The survey asks respondents what qualities and characteristics they’d like to see in the district’s top administrator as directors look for Pryne’s successor for the 2022-2023 school year.

• School board directors had high praise both for Kristi Queen, incoming principal at Helen Haller Elementary School, and outgoing principal Rebecca Stanton. On Monday night, directors approved the transfer of Queen from her Sequim High School assistant principal position to the lead administrative role at Helen Haller, effective July 1.