School districts across the county are finalizing their plans in the face of a statewide closure of all K-12 schools, including private and charter schools, beginning today until at least April 24.

Now, schools can close altogether, possibly making up school days in the summer as though they were snow days, or implement online or other forms of distance learning. According to state law, public school districts that move to distance learning are required to ensure every student has access to both a computer and the internet.

In addition, those schools that continue operations in some form are required to make accommodations for special education students, including possibly teaching them in small groups inside regular classrooms.

Districts are also required to provide food services to low-income students and are being asked by state officials to provide child care for health care workers and first responders during the closures.

Moses Lake School District

In the Moses Lake School District, students in grades K-4 were given the Chromebooks with which their older peers are already familiar, and students were given instruction on how to use Google Classroom to receive their education during the closure. The district has also provided mobile hotspots to students without internet access.

Those who still need laptops or enroll in Wi-Fi services can pick them up at the Learning Services Center between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. for the rest of the week.

Rolling out food services has been delayed for the district, in part due to supply-side issues related to panic shopping, said Dr. Josh Meek in a Monday night interview. But services are expected to resume by next week, likely with designated pick up areas where students can grab-and-go lunch and breakfast, Meek said.

For special education students, homeroom teachers will be modifying the online curriculum to meet each student’s needs, and specially designed instruction will be delivered directly from teachers to students through their Chromebooks, Meek said.

Child care, which the state is requiring districts to provide for health care workers and first responders, is also still in the works, Meek added.

“That’s not a typical service we provide, so we’re trying to assess the needs of people in the community as we develop a plan,” Meek said. “It is a complicated conversation, especially with social distancing and limiting to groups of 10.”

Quincy School District

In the Quincy School District, the schools will be closed until April 24, having decided that neither distance nor online learning would be feasible for the district, Superintendent John Boyd said in an interview. All school events, including senior class events, have been canceled, as well as senior presentation requirements.

“Our district has a diverse student population and many of our students do not have regular access to technology or the internet,” the district wrote in a statement published on its website. “Moreover, an online distance learning model would not be cohesive with many special education students’ IEP services.”

However, the school does still encourage its students to learn from home and has compiled a list of recommended at-home reading and math activities, which can be found at https://bit.ly/33q8d6M or on the district’s website.

Food services will be available starting today, with drop-off points at Quincy Middle School, Pioneer Elementary, George Elementary and Mountain View Elementary, open 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

All students who show up will receive breakfast and lunch for free at the same time, and all residents age 18 or younger will be given food, even if they don’t go to the school district. However, because of social distancing guidelines, all meals must be picked up and consumed elsewhere, according to the district’s website.

Child care plans are still in the works but are at least initially going to be limited to first responders and health care workers, Boyd said.

Ephrata School District

The Ephrata School District will continue to make plans on how to proceed in the coming week, Superintendent Tim Payne said in an interview, and is still considering whether to go to online or distance learning. The district was particularly focused on the needs of its juniors and seniors, he said.

Special education accommodations are a particular point of concern in making any education plans, Payne said, and it is not yet certain where the district will land.

Food services will be rolling out sooner than later, however: starting Thursday, meals will be dispensed at Grant Elementary, Columbia Ridge Elementary, Parkway School and Ephrata Middle School, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Monday through Friday. Payne noted that the district’s high school is located on the same campus as Grant Elementary, and would not have its own distribution site.

Students will be provided lunch for that day as well as breakfast for the next morning.

Payne said the district would start talking in-depth Tuesday about its ability to provide child care, particularly with recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines cautioning against groups larger than 10 people. Payne said that, at the very soonest, child care would be available next Monday.

Soap Lake School District

Soap Lake School District Superintendent Sunshine Pray did not respond to repeated requests for comment over several days. When asked, district staff pointed to a recent Facebook post from the school, which said the district would have a plan finalized by Tuesday.

“Today a team worked in the buildings to call every family in the district,” the district wrote in the post. “We wanted to know about computer and internet access. We are also trying to determine the food needs in the community. We are reviewing the data and will have a complete plan ready tomorrow on how we will move forward in this interesting situation.”

Warden School District

In a statement posted to the district website, Warden School District’s information technology director, Jeff Kottong, wrote that the district was still establishing education “enrichment supports” for students and would provide further information at a later time.

The district will be distributing food along its bus routes to students who normally ride the bus, and students that live in town can pick up their meals at distribution sites. For students who live west of County Road, meals can be picked up at Jeske Park 10-11 a.m., Monday through Friday. Students who live east of County Road can pick up their meals at Volunteer Park during the same hours.

Either parents/guardians or students can pick up the meals.

Child care will be provided for health care workers and first responders between 8:15 a.m. and 3 p.m. Parents who qualify but have not been contacted by the district can contact the district at 509-349-2311, ext. 1582.

Othello School District

Othello School District officials had not publicly announced by Monday how they plan to conduct school during the emergency shutdown, but it won’t be online.

”We don’t have any plans currently to provide distance learning or online options for our students,” Perez said. “I think it seems like a really good idea, but it’s very difficult to pull off, very difficult to do.” The Superintendent of Public Instruction’s office is advising against it, he said.

During the school closure, the Othello School District will provide breakfast and lunch to any child, 18 years and younger, regardless of their family income. Meals will be available for pick up at the bus loops of Wahitis Elementary School, Hiawatha Elementary School and Othello High School, according to the district’s website.

Meals will also be available at bus stops along normal bus routes. For route one, those stops will include Golden Plains at 11 a.m., Radar Trailer Court at 11:30 a.m., and Othello Manor at noon. For route two, those stops will be Sportsman Trailer Court at 11 a.m., Taggares Park at 11:30 a.m. and Eagle Apartments at 12:05 p.m.

For route three, those stops will include Soda Street and Juniper Street at 11 a.m., Yellow Camp at 11:30 a.m. and Radar Base Housing at noon. For route four, those stops will include Weavers Trailer Court at 11 a.m., Summerset West — Drury Lane and Shelly Road at 11:20 a.m., and Summerset West — Barbara Road and Thacker Road at 11:40 a.m.

The district had not made its plans regarding child care publicly available by Monday night. At a recent school board meeting, Assistant Superintendent Pete Perez questioned whether the district could possibly make child care available to a wider group of parents.