LAKE OSWEGO, Ore. — School districts all over Oregon now have more leeway to bring students back for in-person learning after Gov. Kate Brown's announcement relaxing restrictions in late December.
On Tuesday, the Lake Oswego School District announced its plans to transition to a hybrid model.
The plan is to begin hybrid learning by phasing in elementary school students. That’ll start with kindergartners the first week of February.
“I was surprised actually. Honestly, I was surprised that the district feels that this is the right time to move ahead,” said Natasha Richmond. She has two kids in the Lake Oswego School District, one in the third grade and the other in sixth grade.
“We all want our kids to be in school. But I think different families have different levels of safety concerns,” said Richmond.
While she is uncomfortable with the thought of in-person learning, other parents have pushed for the opportunity.
“Certainly, this news has been met with mixed reviews and mixed perceptions,” said Dr. Lora De La Cruz, superintendent of Lake Oswego Schools.
“The reason we chose to wait until February to begin this gradual returning of elementary students is so that we would have time to see what happens with the post-holiday surge potential, give time for those numbers to hopefully decrease, give our teachers and staff ample time and notice to make any planning and prep in their own lives,” she said.
De La Cruz said while some kids are excelling with distance learning, others are struggling academically and mentally. De La Cruz said the district is prepared for hybrid learning, especially since there’s already been limited in-person instruction at every school in the district.
“Thank goodness we have not had any cases of COVID transmitted in our schools in those limited in-person instruction environments and we believe that is because everyone is following strict safety guidelines,” De La Cruz said.
Those guidelines include things like mask wearing. For the hybrid model, De La Cruz said plans include smaller class sizes, with each class being split in half. One group of students will attend in the morning while the second group will attend in the afternoon. She also said kids will interact with their one teacher each day. De La Cruz said they made their decision working closely with public health officials, and the move toward hybrid learning follows the science.
“Schools, especially elementary schools, have been shown to be safe when strict safety guidelines are followed,” said De La Cruz.
It’s still unclear what recourse teachers and staff might have if they are uncomfortable teaching in-person.
“Our executive director of HR is working closely with teachers who have concerns. So, our teachers and staff know to be in touch with her to talk through challenges, questions and opportunities,” De La Cruz said.
She said the district is relying on families to stay safe by avoiding gatherings, wearing masks and keeping their distance so that hybrid learning can move forward as smoothly as possible.
At the beginning of the school year, parents in the district had a choice between enrolling their kids in hybrid learning or a full year of online learning. Richmond enrolled her children in the hybrid model. However, she believes it’s still too soon for her kids to safely go back to hybrid, in-person learning.
“It just doesn’t make any sense to me why they would send kids back now,” said Richmond.
Now she’s hoping the district will give her, and parents like her, the option to continue full online learning.
“I don’t know if that’s possible for us to switch mid-stream. But if that is not possible, our only other choice is to pull our child out and homeschool,” Richmond said.
The Lake Oswego School District plans to return middle and high schools to hybrid, in-person instruction after elementary schools. No specific date has been given yet.
KGW reached out to other districts including Portland Public Schools, Salem-Keizer, Beaverton and West Linn-Wilsonville. The general consensus is that those districts are still making plans and awaiting more guidance from the Oregon Department of Education set to be released on or around Jan. 19.