Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Denise Juneau says the district will remain in a remote learning model for the rest of the current semester because of an increase in COVID-19 cases

A lot of numbers were tossed around during Friday morning’s special meeting of the Lakeland Joint School District board.

Confronted with sharply rising cases of COVID-19, the three largest school districts in Kootenai County responded Friday with diverse approaches to the crisis.

The protesters outside begged to disagree, but Spokane Public Schools board members and staff offered a positive outlook Wednesday night on the district’s cautious approach in bringing students back to buildings.

The Coeur d'Alene School District board voted unanimously to allow 4 days per week of in-person instruction for kindergartners through 8th-graders beginning Oct. 26, pushing ahead amid rising COVID-19 cases in its schools and across Kootenai County.

Distance learning has been tough on all students across the region, but those without a permanent shelter face additional challenges. Homeless students already are at greater risk of falling behind in class, and the pandemic has only heightened those concerns for educators and parents. 

For educators and students in Spokane and North Idaho, the COVID-19 pandemic isn’t going away anytime soon.

This has been a year filled with bad news. Teenagers are inundated by the negativity that swirls around them, but a group of local teens is choosing to focus on the positive, and they hope the community will join them.

There were 16 people who tested positive for COVID-19 this week in the Coeur d’Alene School District, resulting in 171 people being quarantined.

The Washington State University Faculty Senate voted Thursday to cancel spring break and replace it with one-day academic breaks throughout the semester, amid concerns of that spring break travel would cause another outbreak on campus.

Even during a pandemic, some things never change.

Less than a week before kindergartners are scheduled to return to its buildings, Spokane Public Schools has two confirmed cases of COVID-19 at Lidgerwood Elementary School.

Jacob Schultz recently competed in the World Kendama Cup and took first place in the U.S. and fifth overall. The teen shares his skills with 15 students at Orchard Prairie School who just received their own kendamas thanks to a crowd-funding push from teacher Kirsten Schierman.

Traditionally, the end of September sees golfers, Rotarians and sponsors on the links of the Deer Park Golf Club for the Deer Park Rotary Golf Tournament.

Teens looking for something to do have something new to look forward to from the Liberty Lake Library – monthly Book Loot Boxes. The boxes are designed around the tastes of the teens and tweens in grades 6-12 that sign up for them, librarian Joanne Percy said.

Jan Swanson has always been interested in teaching the whole child. Her innovation and dedication in founding the North Wall Child Development Center in 1981 and spending the next four decades educating children has earned her the 2020 YWCA Women of Achievement Education Award.

Students in Coeur d’Alene Public Schools will begin attending school in person every day beginning Oct. 5 after its board of trustees approved the move in a special meeting early Friday.