Schools don’t normally take six weeks off in the middle of the school year. They also don’t normally close their doors for the last three months of the school year.

The governor’s decision to close school for the remainder of the school year has districts scrambling to figure out how they are going to help their students continue learning outside the walls of the school building. They are also having to ensure that seniors have everything they need to graduate and that they will have some kind of graduation ceremony.

In Othello, students will be continuing their education through a variety of means.

“The Othello School District will provide distance instruction using learning materials, phone contact, email, technology-based virtual instruction, or a combination to meet student needs,” said Chris Hurst, Othello School District superintendent.

Teachers will be developing weekly schedules and plans for students, providing flexible instruction and monitoring students’ learning.

The district will also continue to serve breakfast and lunch to students. It is unknown at this time when the meal program will end or if it will run through the summer. So far, the Othello School District has served over 45,000 meals to its students since school closed in March.

For now, it is unclear whether school will start earlier in the fall or if missed curriculum will be added to next school year.

“This is really a collaborative conversation taking place with all superintendents across the state,” Hurst said. “Currently our guidance from the state is to provide graduating seniors the content they need to meet their graduation requirements and to support their post-secondary transition, and offer learning opportunities for all other students. We are continuing to collaborate with superintendents across the state and receive direction from the state on how to best address any learning gaps. We will receive our direction from OSPI (Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction) on the start date for the 2020-2021 school year.”

As far as senior presentations, the district is having to rethink how they will be done. Hurst said they could be made electronically. The same may also happen for graduation.

“Districts across the state have been asked to get creative regarding end of the year events, such as graduation,” Hurst said. “We have also been asked to keep in mind the governor’s proclamation. With this in mind, some districts are looking at doing a virtual graduation. We currently have a team working on ideas for our students.”

Othello isn’t the only district working to come up with unique ways to handle the situation given to them. In Warden, school officials have been meeting to work out graduation requirements for seniors. In a letter dated April 10, to seniors and their parents, Warden High School Principal Courtney McCoy encouraged seniors to reach out to the teachers to ensure they complete everything necessary to be able to graduate.

The Royal School District is also looking at how graduation may be modified. Like the other districts, nothing has been finalized. One thing they are doing to honor their seniors is to turn on the lights of the stadium for 20 minutes every Friday evening at 8:20 p.m. between now and June 5.

The district is also moving toward online learning, with both middle and high school students having school-owned Chromebooks at home. Plans for getting Chromebooks to intermediate and elementary students are being worked on. In the meantime, Royal School District is providing weekly learning packets to students both online and each Monday at the meal pick-up locations.

In addition to wading through the questions surrounding the school closure, the Wahluke School District has to deal with the resignation of Superintendent Robert Eckert and finding a new leader. To fill the immediate void, Wahluke Junior High Principal Andy Harlow has been given the interim superintendent position.

Harlow’s new position is expected to last 90 days, during which time the Wahluke School Board will work on hiring a new superintendent. During the next few months, Art Lopez will be the Wahluke Junior High interim principal.