School Operations Update 5.28.21

 Lewis County Metrics

Cases continue to increase in Lewis County even as cases in the State as a whole continue to decline. At 374 cases per 100,000 residents, Lewis County is the fifth highest case rate in the State. 

Lewis County

Washington State

Since May 6, TSD has recorded 15 COVID positive cases and 50 close contacts. We anticipate an increase in cases in the next week owing to an increase in extra curricular activities both sponsored and not sponsored by the District. 

I've been asked about Commencement. We plan to hold an outdoor Commencement ceremony on June 11 for Cowlitz Prairie Academy and June 12 for THS. All those who are not quarantined and who have tickets to attend will be welcome to participate. It is our hope that all members of the Class of 2021 will be symptom free and not close contacts with someone who tests positive. We will hold this ceremony even if only one student is not in quarantine. We encourage all those who wish to participate to stay distant from others and mask or get vaccinated.

Regular Order

The board has authorized us to continue providing in-person instruction for the remainder of the school year unless specifically directed by the Governor to close or our cases breach one of the thresholds for closure identified by Lewis County Public Health. Those thresholds are:

Classroom Closure Trigger:  ·         Two or more COVID-19 cases among students or staff within a 14-day period, who are epidemiologically linked, do not share a household and did not have significant contact outside of school grounds

School Closure Triggers: ·         Schools with fewer than 10 classrooms:  if 2 or more classrooms are closed ·         Larger schools:  if more than 10% of classrooms are closed ·         If there is a rapid increase in cases ·         If there are 2 or more generations of transmission ·         If there is not enough staff for school to function

While we have had a "rapid increase in cases", it has not been significant enough to impact safety for students and staff and has not impacted our ability to continue to provide in-person instruction. 

The best way to deliver instruction is in-person. Our goal is to continue to do so as long as we possibly can.

Masks

The CDC has indicated that fully-vaccinated individuals,

"...(may) resume activities without wearing a mask or staying 6 feet apart, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules, and regulations, including local business and workplace guidance."

The Governor's proclamation and regulations from Washington Department of Labor and Industries require us to continue to wear masks. We don't know what will happen between now and August 31, but be assured that there isn't a single person in the school district that is pushing to continue masking beyond when the regulations require it. Like in-person instruction, we believe that it is best for students and staff when we can interact without face coverings. 

Fall School Operation Hours

Beginning in August, schools will observe the following regular operation hours:

TES: 8-2:30

TMS: 9:10-3:40

THS: 9-3:30

Notice that TMS will begin after THS. Students will be dropped off at THS before students at TMS. This is to reduce the impact of a two-tiered approach to operating schools. Students at THS miss out on many opportunities when school dismisses later. We have worked hard to find a way to get students at THS out by 3:30 while not requiring TES students to start their day too early.

A two-tiered operating system is needed because of a chronic shortage of school bus drivers. In order to return to a uniform start time of 8:25 at all schools, we would need 4 additional route and 3 additional substitute drivers. 

In 2005, TSD had 970 students and 400 bus riders on 8 routes. In 2021, we have 775 students and 600 riders on 6 routes. Fewer students generating more ridership served by fewer routes. Our busses do not have the capacity to transport 100 students and we don't have the capacity to increase the number of routes, so we adopted a two-tiered system to meet the needs of the community with the resources available.

We would prefer to return to a single tier system, but until we have more drivers, we will be unable to.

School Operations Update

 Lewis County Metrics

Currently, Lewis County has a case rate of 325/100,000 people. By comparison, the State is at 213. 25 is the target for acceptable case rates. (San Francisco County had a case rate of 16 this week and only 2 new cases.) In Toledo School District, we had no confirmed cases associated with our schools from March 29 through May 6. In the past two weeks, we have had 13 positive cases and a number of close contacts that were required to quarantine. This is a troubling trend. Other districts in Lewis County recently returned to remote-only instruction due to an increase in cases in their schools. If we are to be successful at remaining open in regular order, we need to utilize all the measures available to us.

The measures that we use to combat the virus are masking, distancing, hand hygiene and now, vaccinations. The COVID vaccines that are now available are more effective than the Measels vaccine at preventing or mitigating disease and are the only thing that can be used to combat the need to quarantine. In addition, being vaccinated reduces the need to wear masks and distance. Vaccines  limit the long term effects of COVID on respiratory and circulatory systems. 

We are encouraging all of our employees to get vaccinated. In addition, we're encouraging parents of children 12-17 to have their children vaccinated. Children who have been vaccinated are less likely to contract the disease and can be exempt from quarantining if they have no symptoms. The District is currently working to arrange for a vaccine clinic at TES in the near future. More people vaccinated means fewer  people to contract and spread the disease.

2021-22 Operations

We are planning to return to school in-person, Monday-Friday during regular hours next year. Other than Cowlitz Prairie Academy, we are not planning to offer remote instruction to students. We are anticipating the need to continue to mask until regulatory agencies such as Labor and Industries indicates that we are not required to do so. As we have throughout the pandemic, we will aggressively offer in-person instruction unless a change is indicated otherwise. We ask our community to support us in this effort.

School Operations Update 5.7.21

 Toledo Schools remain in regular order Monday through Thursday with no plans to return to hybrid or remote. Students are benefiting from increased in-person instruction time and no cases of COVID have been documented in our schools since March. We continue to social distance, mask and practice hand hygiene as more people in our county are choosing to get vaccinated.

We are still hopeful that we will be able to provide a "Summer to Remember" program in the last two weeks of July. This recreationally-focus program would get kids together for socializing, learning and enjoyment. Watch for more information on this event coming soon.

Most districts in Washington are experiencing a shortage of bus drivers. Toledo is no exception. Because of this, we will be continuing a staggered start for school next year. By doing so, we will keep route times under 1 hour, prevent bus overcrowding and reduce bus behavior problems. Next year's school hours will be:

School	Drop off	Class starts	Dismissal
TES	7:40	8:00	2:30
TMS	8:40	8:50	3:20
THS	8:50	9:00	3:30

Our thanks to everyone who participated in the recent survey that went out. 

Commencement for Cowlitz Prairie Academy will be on June 11 and THS will be on June 12.  Both schools will observe in-person events with reduced occupancy. Consult your student's school for details on these important events.

School Operations Update 4.30.21

 Return to Regular Order

TES and TMS returned to in-person instruction full time Monday through Thursday this week. Thanks to a relaxation of the 6' distancing rule, we are now able to serve all of our students in-person. We will continue to have remote instruction on Fridays to accommodate our remote-only students and to allow for staff to clean buildings. 

Athletics continue with season 2 (spring sports) wrapping up their post season and season 3 (winter sports) beginning practice and competitions. We are still searching for people to assist with athletics, but our coaches have been tremendous in creating opportunities for our athletes to make memories and realize goals.

All of this has had a positive effect on kids. We hope that you're seeing an improvement in mood at home that we're seeing at school. Kids are genuinely glad to get back to school activities and learning as well as competing with their friends.

Phase 3

The progress we've made in returning to regular order is contingent upon remaining in phase 3 of the Healthy Washington Plan. Lewis County is currently at 201.9 new cases per 100,000 and new hospitalizations are above 5. Both of these are above the limits to be in phase 3. The State will evaluate our metrics on Monday May 4. Any change will take place on Friday May 7. While we hope that we'll remain in phase 3, we are preparing ourselves in the event that we are returned to phase 2. The biggest impact of the shift will be that indoor competitions will be suspended for athletics.

Lewis County Superintendents are encouraging the Governor and Dept. of Health to consider allowing competitions in phase 2 without spectators. We believe that the source of increased spread of the virus is not associated with school activities and that our kids really need school and activities. 

We are counting on everyone in our county to get vaccinated and continue working against the virus with masks, hand hygiene and distance. Please help us keep our schools and athletics open.

 

School Operations Update 4.23.21

 Regular Order and the Threats to It

On Monday, all schools will return to full-day in-person instruction Monday through Thursday. This day has been a long time coming and I know that everyone is looking forward to it. There are so many signs that things may be returning to regular order. We've had great weather recently and we're all feeling a little relief from this past year.

However, you only need to look one county south to see that COVID is still with us. Cowlitz, Pierce and Whitman Counties were all downgraded to Phase 2 of the Governor's Healthy Washington Plan in the past week. This means that athletics returns to practice-only (no games) and physical distance at school returns to 6'. I read last night that Pierce County may be downgraded again to phase 1 in the coming weeks.

Lewis County Public Health and Social Services reported on Wednesday that Lewis County is in danger of being downgraded on May 3 when the next metrics review takes place. The county is currently at 220 new cases per 100,000 residents (200 is the maximum number over 2 weeks for Phase 3) and 8.7 hospitalizations (5 is the maximum for Phase 3). (April 21 Chronicle)  

Dr. Kevin Caserta is the site administrator for Providence Centralia and chief medical officer for Providence in Southwest Washington. He calls on all of us to do our part to fight the virus. He notes the increase in cases that he's seeing and calls on us to get vaccinated and continue masking, distancing and hand hygiene. Cases are up all over the U.S. (April 21 Chronicle)

Here's how you can help. If you haven't been vaccinated, please do so. If your children 16-18 haven't been vaccinated, consider getting them vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine. In addition to not getting sick, vaccinated people do not need to quarantine if they are close contacts. 

The reduction in social distancing recommendations is what has allowed us to return to school. This is predicated on keeping cases and hospitalizations low. It would be so sad if we needed to return to hybrid modes of instruction. Our kids need to be in school and we need to beat this virus. I have heard from so many parents that this is what their children are looking forward to. I've heard from so many in our community that athletics have made a huge difference in the well-being of their kids. As educators, we know that the best place for kids is in school with their friends and staff. Please do your part. 

School Operations Update 4.16.21

Preparations

The TSD Response Team met today to review our preparations for a return to regular order on April 26. As a reminder, all K-12 students will return to in-person instruction for full days Monday through Thursday on that date. Students who elect to remain in remote instruction will be able to continue if they choose.

We're expecting most of our furniture to arrive in time for opening and we have temporary solutions while we wait for the rest. Our transportation and food services are looking forward to the change and our building staff is excited to be working with all students together. 

We are currently needing an additional custodian so that we can accommodate the increased load and continue to maintain safety in the buildings. If you or someone you know is interested, please go to this link. 

Starting a new phase of learning is like having another "first day of school", so you can anticipate all of the nervousness and glitches that come with the beginning of new ways of doing things. Please continue to be flexible with your children and staff as we all adjust to a new system (again!)

Athletics

Lewis County is currently in phase 3. Cowlitz County is in phase 2. This means that if we play a team from Cowlitz County, we will need to observe the phase 2 protocols for the specific sport- even though we may be playing at home. This is a WIAA regulation. In addition, wrestling and basketball isn't available for phase 2 counties, so those sports won't compete.

We are hopeful that Lewis County will continue to be in phase 3. We narrowly avoided a rollback this week as our case numbers have increased. Everyone who is 16 or older is currently eligible for the vaccine. We encourage you to get vaccinated and to maintain masking and distancing so that we can continue to return to regular order without a  rollback.

Mascot

We are continuing to explore whether there is some way that the exception in the recent legislation regarding Native American mascots applies to Toledo. So far, it does not look promising. The Cowlitz Tribe has trust lands, but they are in Clark County, so there is no connection to the district or Lewis County. Even though the tribe owns property in the district, the lands aren't in the trust. 

We continue to work with the Cowlitz Indian Tribal Council and staff to explore this issue. When the Governor signs the legislation, we'll be in conversation with the Office of Native Education at OSPI. While these are possibilities, I believe that we should begin coming to terms with a change to our mascot and branding.

School Operations Update 4.9.21

 What's New?

On Monday 4/5, the board of directors voted to return to in-person instruction for all students Monday through Thursday for full days on April 26. This means that all K-8 students will attend school all day in-person beginning on that day. They will join the THS students in this and all will attend Monday through Thursday with Fridays being a remote learning day to serve those who continue with remote-only instruction and to allow staff to clean and disinfect the building.

We will continue to use daily attestations and temperature checks, masks and hand hygiene. Physical distance has been reduced to 3' effective immediately. While we are returning to in-person instruction, we remain committed to safety and the protection of students and staff. As we begin to return to more in-person instruction, Lewis County COVID cases are again increasing. On April 15, all Washingtonians 16 and over will be eligible for a vaccine. We encourage all those eligible to get vaccinated so that we can continue our return to regular order.

As with all big changes, we  collaborate closely with our union representatives to make sure that our decisions do not negatively impact their wages, hours or working conditions. In addition, we await delivery of furniture that will be needed to accommodate students at meal times outdoors. For both of these reasons, we requested a delay until April 26. This date is not uncommon in our region for a return. For example, Battle Ground will return to in-person instruction on that date as well.

At the high school, the new Commons will be available for student use on Monday for meals. This will allow us to have students spread out at meal times and maintain 6' of distance. The kitchen is still under construction and also awaits permitting, so we will continue to prepare THS meals at TES. A few other areas of the new school will come on line toward the end of the month.

Artist's Rendering (tables won't float)

Photograph of the built space 4.9.21

Commencement is planned to be held in the stadium this year to maximize the number of people who can attend. Watch for more information on this important event.