Distance Learning and Reopening Schools update

 I'm not going to sugarcoat it. We are in some of the most difficult times that any of us have experienced. We are all working harder and with less certainty that our work will do any good. We are all trying to make the best of a difficult situation and the best isn't nearly good enough for any of us. While we all want our children to be in school in regular order, we also want all of our friends, neighbors, colleagues and family members to come through this pandemic alive and without lasting physical, neurological, emotional or mental injuries. We are, all of us, fearful of our capacity to meet this challenge. On top of all of that, we're existing in an environment filled with smoke that causes us to feel more anxious.

As of September 16, 2020 at 1:30 p.m. here is the case data for Washington State:

The state is at 80.5 cases per 100,000. This is a two week rolling average that takes into account new cases only and does not consider recoveries, hospitalizations or deaths. I think about this like the RPMs on a tachometer in my car. 25 per 100,000 would be idling. When people say, "COVID will always be with us." this is what they're talking about. Not 0 cases, 25/100,000 or less.

Here is Lewis County alone:

Lewis County is currently at 75.5 cases per 100,000. This is great news because earlier this month, we were at 120. When cases began to decline, Lewis County Public Health, in collaboration with educators and pediatricians, determined that it was safe to begin looking at bringing Kindergarteners back to the schools. Toledo is currently working to do just that as are all other districts in the county. The problem is the projected cases for the future.

When we look at where we are (the blue line) it appears that we're making progress at reducing our cases. But when you look at what is projected for the rolling average taking into account the number of new cases that don't show up in the 14 day data point, we are predicted to be 125.8 for the period of Aug 27-Sep 10 (gray dotted line). State COVID data Lewis County currently has the 10th highest rate of the 39 counties in the state.

Other data looks promising: the infection rate (R Naught value) is currently less than 1 (this means that every person who is positive for COVID is infecting only one or fewer people before they find out they are infected. Measles is 14), hospital beds remain available and the number of COVID patients in hospital is below the "idle speed" of our "engine". 

Our efforts in the county have been about "dialing up" reentry to schools so that we're sure of our new practices of distancing, cohorting, transporting, cleaning, disinfecting and teaching about masks and hand washing. Our concern is that if we reenter too quickly, we'll be forced to close again. Our other concern is that if staff become infected, we aren't sure we'll have substitutes to take their place and that those substitutes will have the new skills needed to teach both on campus and remotely.

Right now, we're taking the recommendation of LC Public Health and planning to return Kindergarten to TES full time Monday through Friday. All but three of our families have indicated they'll send their children. We don't have a date certain right now, but it will be after Sept. 28. 

We're watching Mossyrock and Boistfort to see what their outcomes are in the next three weeks. We're hopeful that they will not have any negative outcomes and that this will be an indication to the rest of us on how we might reenter the buildings. We're also gearing ourselves for cases in our district. We expect that there will be infections, quarantines and sickness. We're praying that there are no lasting outcomes or deaths. Remember that viruses can live in our bodies for our whole lives. The Chicken Pox we had as children is the same virus that attacks us in old age as shingles. The cold sores we got as kids stay with us for our whole lives and create cold sores later under stress. We still don't know what this virus is capable of. 

In the meantime, the staff, teachers, administrators and all of us at Toledo School District have never worked harder on behalf of children than we are this year. We are grateful to all those parents and community members who have sent us words of encouragement and support. Here's what we know:

We are putting out schedules and assignments each Monday by 9 a.m. for the week so that families can plan when they'll do their school work. We're engaging students via videoconferencing software (zoom) more than ever. 69% of our students have perfect attendance so far this year. I hear often from families that while this isn't ideal, it is becoming manageable. I hear from teachers that they are beginning to get the hang of this. The happiest families are those who stay in close touch with their teachers and principals. When there is a problem, they surface that problem along with solutions that might work better and work together with our staff to make it better. 

I have a Parent Partner class online where I do lessons on how our learning management system works as well as information about how to support your child in an online environment. On Tuesdays at 6 p.m. I host an online "office hours" where parents can ask questions and get instruction on  specific concerns. We've had three such sessions. Tuesday Office Hours Click on this link to join up next Tuesday at 6.

Finally, we hear parents who think we should return to the buildings immediately. We also hear parents who are concerned about that. We hear staff who think we should return to the buildings immediately and we hear staff who are concerned about that. All of us want to return to regular order. All of us. We can always commit to you is that we will make decisions based on what is best for kids. We may differing views on what is best for kids, but that will always be our focus. Our mission remains the same- provide opportunities and meaningful experiences to empower students to achieve their goals. Each child, each day, each classroom. We are committed to fulfilling this mission. We are committed to your children's success.

If you have questions or want your voice included in the conversation, I invite you to call or email me. You may also email a public comment for inclusion on the board agenda. Until we meet again, I wish you and your family good health and safety.