WA education superintendent doubtful that classes will return this school year

OLYMPIA, Wash. — State educators said they were becoming less optimistic that a normal school day will happen anytime soon.

Currently, the plan is to still have students and teachers return to campuses on April 27th.

In an online video message, though, the Superintendent of Washington’s schools, Chris Reykdal, said a return to school is still several weeks away, if at all.

“I don’t know if we’re coming back to school this year... and I’ll be honest about that. It’s gonna be really tough to do,” he said. “We have to get past this (coronavirus) peak, and there’s a chance that’ll happen in very late spring.”

According to Reykdal, many school districts will rely on distance learning for the foreseeable future.

The result, he said, was less of a loss of learning time.

Already, Reykdal said students have lost around 325 hours of education, which corresponds to 2.4% of their entire education span.

To make up for that, he said plans are already being hashed out to possibly add more time to the next school year.

To help graduating seniors, Reykdal said many school districts will likely waive certain requirements, which will be up to each district to figure out.

“We can’t just put our pens and pencils down and say, 'hey, we’re done,’” Reykdal told graduating seniors.

Also being considered, he said, was a pass-fail system for districts across the state.

“Higher education has a lot to say about (a pass-fail system), because some of you really want those GPAs for scholarships, so please contact your local school district and figure what their plan is,” Reykdal told parents.

In the end, a decision about when kids can return to school campuses will be made by Governor Inslee.

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