As staff are vaccinated, students return, Whatcom schools adjust to this COVID safety rule
Students and staff in Bellingham have had a lot of first days back to school this year as students in different grades were brought back for in-person learning at different times, based on health and safety guidelines to protect against COVID-19.
By its own count, Bellingham Public Schools has had 16 first days since November. The last was March 19 when the final group of high school students entered the classroom for in-person instruction.
But schools aren’t done with change, in a tumultuous year full of them because of the pandemic.
Districts are weighing the next steps now that social distancing between K-12 students in classrooms can be as little as 3 feet, compared to 6 feet, and still provide safety — with ongoing mitigation measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 — under new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Gov. Jay Inslee announced on March 25 that Washington schools will align their practices with the new CDC guidelines. It’s a move that’s expected to allow more schools to bring more students back to the classroom for in-person learning.
Washington state schools can still choose to keep the 6-foot distance, for now.
All Whatcom County K-12 public schools are on hybrid schedules, meaning they split their time between virtual and in-person learning, with the youngest learners returning earlier in the school year and high school students the last to return to the classroom.
The Bellingham Herald asked Bellingham Public Schools, the school district with the most students, and Mount Baker School District, which has the fewest number of students, how many were back on campus and about their consideration of the new 3-foot guidance.
Schools are closed for spring break Monday through Friday.
Here’s a snapshot of what’s happening now.
Bellingham Public Schools
Has the school district made decisions related to the 3-foot guidance?
A: “The new guidance is important, and we are looking it through carefully. There is quite a bit of nuance with the rationale and recommendations, so, no decisions yet on how it might impact our school days,” said Dana Smith, spokesperson for the school district.
“It may be after we return from spring break that we will have more to share,” she said.
How did your final “first day” of in-person learning go with the return of high school students in March?
A: “The principals reported it went smoothly. I was at Squalicum for Friday morning myself, and it was great to see the students coming in and being welcomed by their teachers, principals and peers,” Smith said.
That was March 19, the day that the high school seniors whose names fell in the second half of the alphabet returned to campus.
What does a school day look like for high school students now?
A: “Students begin their day in their advisory class, then have four classes. In middle and high school, we are using a hybrid model of instruction, where some students are present in the classroom while others join on Zoom,” Smith said. “The exact format of each class and instruction varies depending on the subject being taught, since there are such a wide variety of classes in high school.”
She said students were doing a great job of following safety protocols.
“They seem happy to see and be around each other, and the ninth graders are adjusting to being on campus, many of them for the first time,” Smith said.
What about staff?
A: “Staff are doing incredible work making yet another adjustment to their teaching format and routines. There was some anxiety for both staff and students as they returned to campus, and we are also seeing that beginning to subside. Our teachers are enjoying spending time with students, and are innovating and sharing ways to make classes even more interactive within the safety protocols,” Smith said.
“And students are excited to be back creating and doing activities, especially in hands-on classes like art, culinary arts, P.E., and music,” she said.
How many students does the school district now have for in-person instruction with this last first day?
A: There are about 11,000 students in the district’s 22 schools.
“All of the have the opportunity to return for at least two days per week, and up through third grade can be at school four days a week. As of March 19, around 81% of these students have returned for in-person school, just shy of 9,000 students,” Smith said.
How many students have opted to stick with remote learning only?
A: Bellingham has 1,700 students in grades K-12 who are still fully remote but connected to their schools through the district’s K-5 Remote Reconnect program or continuing to attend middle or high school classes remotely.
Smith said the district has 275 students who are attending the district’s fully-online asynchronous program, Bellingham Virtual Learning.
It also has nearly 500 students enrolled in the Bellingham Family Partnership Program, its homeschool partnership.
How many teachers and other staff have received a dose of the COVID-19 vaccines or have been fully vaccinated?
A: “We aren’t maintaining a record of who has been immunized for COVID-19, as it is people’s confidential health information,” Smith said toward the end of March. “However, we estimate around 1,650 of our employees and community partners have been immunized, based on clinic data and information that some employees chose to share with us.”
Smith said vaccination clinics for employees were done with the help of PeaceHealth, Custom Rx Shoppe and Hoagland Pharmacy, and that officials were confident that every school district employee who wants to be immunized will have had their second dose by April 12.
Mount Baker School District
Has the school district made decisions related to the 3-foot guidance?
A: The school district will increase in-person learning due to the recommended change, Superintendent Mary Sewright said.
“We have endured many hardships and taken on challenges we would have never dreamed of prior to COVID-19. Every change includes stress and hard work as well as hope for increasing the time we are able to serve students in school. I hope my announcement this evening will bring joy and celebration,” Sewright wrote in her Wednesday, March 31, announcement to families.
The first changes start April 19, with in-person learning for elementary school students expanding to four days a week — Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday.
Junior high and high school students will transition to in-person learning four days a week starting May 3.
“We are getting some requests from students who have been learning remotely to transition to in-person learning four days per week,” Sewright said, adding it was too soon to know how many students that would be.
How many of the district’s students are doing in-person instruction?
A: Sewright provided the following breakout of students and grades:
▪ PreK: a total of 13.
▪ Elementary grades K-6: a total of 400 students.
▪ Junior high grades 7-8: a total of 191 students.
▪ High school grades 9-12: a total of 385 students.
All the grade levels are back in a hybrid model, she said.
At Mount Baker, that means that students are learning in the classroom two days a week, with Cohort A in school on Monday and Tuesday, and Cohort B there on Thursday and Friday. Three days are asynchronous, meaning online learning in which students complete their work on their own schedule.
“Students and staff are doing well,” she said.
How many students are sticking with remote learning only?
A: A total of 459 in elementary grades, with 126 of those in alternative learning experience courses where some or all of what is taught is delivered outside of regular classroom schedules.
In junior high, the number is 72 with 20 in alternative learning experience coursework.
In high school, the total is 96, according to Sewright.
How many teachers and other staff have received a dose of the COVID-19 vaccines or have been fully vaccinated?
A: Sewright said she was confident that 75% of staff have been vaccinated, noting that there have been two clinics in partnership with Hoagland Pharmacy and that the Nooksack Tribe also vaccinated 25 staff members.
