Asotin High heading back to class
Feb. 27—High schoolers in the Asotin-Anatone School District will return to full-time in-person learning next month for the first time since schools closed in March of last year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Superintendent Dale Bonfield said the change, which goes into effect March 11, was made possible because the east region of the state moved into Phase 2 of Washington's reopening plan. That allowed students who participate in sports to mix cohorts that were previously kept separate.
"Now, we've already mixed (those cohorts), so we are able to bring them back and still keep the 6 feet of distancing," Bonfield said. "We have a large percentage of students that participate in athletics."
The district has repurposed spaces in its buildings to ensure proper social distance is possible. Books were removed from the library, providing a large classroom space for students who will be spread 6 feet apart. The district also rented the community center across the street and moved its students participating in its music program into that building, which freed up additional space for another classroom in the school.
"It feels really good," Bonfield said of the return to full-day learning for students in 9-12 grades. "We've found that for the most part, students had a difficult time focusing and completing their work on that off (or remote) day."
The high school students started the school year in a hybrid learning schedule where they attended in-person classes every other day and completed work from home on the days they weren't on campus.
Bonfield said the high school saw a dip in grades earlier this year with the hybrid schedule in place, but the district hired additional staff to help students who were struggling, which brought some of their marks back up.
The district hired three additional certified teachers and five paraprofessionals to help tutor or provide remediation to students who needed additional assistance. One of the teachers hired also works with the students who opted to attend school remotely this year.
As of Friday, the district had 25 students, out of its total of 624, enrolled in its online platform. That included 10 students at the high school.
With the return to full-day, in-person learning for the high school students, Bonfield said he didn't expect more students to opt into remote learning. A survey sent out to parents showed that 90 percent of those who responded wanted their kids back face-to-face every day. Ninety percent of the district's staff was also in favor of bringing kids back full time.
Students in preschool through eighth grade have been able to participate in full-day, face-to-face learning since the start of the school year.
The overall number of COVID-19 cases within the district was not immediately available, but Bonfield said the counts have been "pretty low" throughout the pandemic. As of Friday, the district had five students in quarantine, but no active cases.
The district will continue to require and enforce facial coverings, will shorten transition times between classes and will increase its sanitizing protocols.
Tomtas may be contacted at jtomtas@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2294. Follow her on Twitter @jtomtas.
