GRANT COUNTY — Superintendents from both the Soap Lake and Wilson Creek school districts have announced that classes will begin all-online in September, according to videos posted to social media.

Wilson Creek School District Superintendent Laura Christian addressed parents and students in a video message Thursday to make the announcement.

“Coming to you with a message I never wanted to give, and understand that it’s one that I don’t like, but it is where we’re at,” Christian said. “We’re going to need to start the school year online.”

The announcement comes after state and local officials strongly urged school districts located in areas as hard hit by the pandemic as Grant County to start the school year with all-online education. On Aug. 5, Gov. Jay Inslee announced recommendations that any county with more than 75 cases per 100,000 people over a two-week period should not have any in-person education. Grant County has had more than 432, the fourth-highest growth in the state, according to state officials.

These recommendations, as well as a letter from county-level health officials affirming those guidelines, were addressed by Soap Lake School District Superintendent Sunshine Pray in her video message last Tuesday.

“In the last couple of days with the information that came out from Governor Inslee and then the health department, Soap Lake is going to start school with model two, which was our online model,” Pray said.

Pray said that after the first few weeks of school, the district would begin to petition the health department to begin phasing in in-person education, starting with the youngest students.

Christian did not offer a timeline for reintroducing students into classrooms in Wilson Creek’s district, only saying that it would be possible when the virus begins to be suppressed in the county.

“As we continue to social distance, wear our masks, and take advantage of outdoor spaces, we will be able to bring students back when our numbers go down,” Christian said. “I don’t anticipate this will be extremely long term, but then again I didn’t anticipate that we would be ending the school year the way we did or that we would be starting up virtual again.”

“But know that we are all working very, very hard, we have your students’ best interest at heart, and we will get through this because we are Wilson Creek strong,” Christian added.

Emry Dinman can be reached via email at edinman@columbiabasinherald.com.