MOSES LAKE — Following Gov. Jay Inslee’s order to close schools statewide two weeks ago, the Moses Lake School District is off to a bumpy but solid start teaching students and keeping them fed, according to Superintendent Josh Meek.

Speaking during a meeting of the Moses Lake School Board Thursday evening facilitated by the online meeting platform Zoom and live-streamed on the district’s website, Meek said the MLSD was out in front of many school districts when it came to the use of technology.

However, that has not kept the district from having problems, he said.

“It has bumps in it,” Meek said of online instruction.

For the last several years, the district has ensured that every student from fifth grade through high school seniors has their own Chromebook computer as part of a “one-on-one initiative.” There were enough computers that every kindergartner through fourth-grader could have one as well.

Meek noted, however, that what makes online instruction work is teachers building and sustaining effective relationships and engagement with kids.

Meek also said the district is still struggling with how to ensure every child who is legally mandated to receive special education gets it at home.

Under Inslee’s order, school districts were also mandated to provide child care for the children of first responders and health care workers, something Meek said the MLSD is still struggling with and won’t be able to start until early April.

“We’re working with the Boys & Girls Club,” he said. “But you can’t just flip a switch and turn schools into child care.”

Meek, Board President Elliott Goodrich and Board Member Bryce McPartland also expressed concern that the next few years would likely force governments to make hard choices as they faced lower tax revenue in a weaker economy.

“We should not expect a delay in apportionment this year,” Meek said. “But we should expect real funding challenges in the future.”

“Every dollar we spend now is a dollar we won’t have later,” Goodrich said.

Goodrich also added that he found it “morally repugnant” that with “millions of people” in private sector businesses losing their jobs and facing “financial calamity,” public sector employees continued to be paid full wages and are “insulated from the pain everybody’s suffering.”

He said the MLSD should consider a 20 percent pay cut for all staff members for the duration of the closure even though they are still working.

“It is fundamentally not the same situation as when there are 8,600 kids in our buildings,” Goodrich said. “They need to do their part to help.”

Meek, however, said that district employees were still putting in full hours even if they were no longer in classrooms.

“I would be remiss if I didn’t say that while the work looks different, a lot of people are working very hard,” he said.