Spokane Public Schools expects the state will drop student distancing requirements to 3 feet
As soon as Thursday, state officials may ease social-distancing requirements in schools and allow more students to return to class, Spokane Public Schools Superintendent Adam Swinyard said Wednesday night.
During a report to school board members, Swinyard said he anticipated that Gov. Jay Inslee and state officials will soon revise school reopening guidelines to conform to new standards announced last week by The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
On Friday, the CDC recommended that the current guidelines for 6 feet of separation between students in the classroom be cut to 3 feet in most settings, a standard that some Eastern Washington districts recently advocated the state adopt.
Three feet of distance – along with wearing masks – would be safe in all levels of community transmission of COVID-19 for elementary schools, the agency said, and for all but a high level of transmission for middle and high schools.
The CDC defines “high” levels of transmission as 100 cases per 100,000 residents in the past seven days. The Spokane Regional Health District tracks this rate over a 14-day period, and currently Spokane County has a case rate of 138 cases per 100,000 residents.
An announcement by the governor is imminent, “perhaps as soon as tomorrow,” Swinyard said.
The district currently operates with kindergartners through fourth graders attending classes in person five days a week, with the rest attending every other day.
It’s unclear how quickly the district could move forward if the new guidelines are approved. When board member Mike Wiser asked what this would mean moving forward, Swinyard said the district would need to “retrofit” some classrooms.
“It would be a significant logistical endeavor, but less at the fifth- and sixth-grade level,” Swinyard said.
Revisions to the reopening guidelines would also require additional bargaining with the Spokane Education Association, Swinyard said.
Two weeks ago, superintendents from 32 districts in Eastern Washington petitioned the state to take a closer look at relaxing social-distancing rules.
One of the signees, Mead Superintendent Shawn Woodward, said the petition is intended to “to get the conversation going” for next year.
“We’re really fearful that (6-foot distancing) would still be in place in September, and we want the conversation to happen sooner rather than later.”