HR Schools edge toward fall reopening plan

“I am very pleased to turn the meeting over to Rich,” Reitz said. “It’s been wiped down, don’t worry.”

The gavel-pass was virtual, as the meeting was held remotely and Truax and the rest of the board were all in separate rooms.

Truax, who served for years as a district volunteer before joining the board five years ago, said, “Thank you for the trust. I will do my best.” Julia Ramirez-Garcia was unanimously voted vice-chair.

But coronavirus and its effects, starting with a report on progress on what form school re-opening might take, were the main matters of business for the board in its first meeting of the 2020-21 school year. It was also the first meeting with Rich Polkinghorn as superintendent, and followed an afternoon work session organized by Polkinghorn, who was appointed in June after serving as principal of Hood River Valley High School.

In that session, the board was presented with a document condemning racism, which it passed unanimously in its business meeting.

“The district will work to be actively anti-racist so that we dismantle any semblance of systemic racism in our schools ...” says the statement. “The district condemns racism, racial violence, white supremacy, hate speech and bigotry in all forms inside and outside of our school,” it states. (See hoodrivernews.com for the full text.)

The district plans to have “final operational blueprints” for school reopening, presented to the School Board on Aug. 12, in order to submit the plan to the state by the Aug. 15 deadline.

The District Community Planning Committee has met twice and will do so again, virtually, on July 15 to further hone school re-opening plans. The committee includes parents, teachers, administrators and representatives of school site councils.

The committee first met June 15, to review the State Department of Education blueprints for districts to follow. The committee is collaborating on the plan review with the Hood River County Health Department, and its liaison is Jan Veldhuisen Virk, a nurse and former school board member.

“We are making plans for in-person learning, all students back, as soon as it is safe to do so,” Polkinghorn said. “Plans are in the works for all three concepts lain out by the state: Full-time in-person, distance learning, and a hybrid approach in which students are in school two or three days a week.

“Our hope and aim is full on-site, but so much depends on what happens in the next few weeks,” Polkinghorn said.

Two examples of moderated in-person school attendance are happening now: Athletic programs have resumed practices, and the district’s federally-funded Summer Migrant Education Program is happening now at two locations.

Athletic Director Trent Kroll said, “Coaches and students are grateful to be back,” wearing face coverings and maintaining six feet of distance. Before practices, the athletes must be checked in by either a coach or the AD, have their temperature recorded, and confirm they have no coronavirus symptoms or contact with those who do.

Migrant Program attendance is a fraction of the sign-ups for this month’s program; 33 of the 140 enrollees came out the first days’ morning or afternoon sessions, according to co-organizer Patricia Cooper.

“We called the families, to ask why, and the main reason they are hanging back is the recent cluster of (COVID-19) cases. People are scared,” Cooper said. “It’s been said that ‘the virus makes the timeline,’ we just have to be patient,” she said

Cooper credited Migrant Program coordinators Kim Yasui and Adrian Acosta and others for “what is a monumental undertaking and one very important to families and students.”

In public comment at Wednesday’s meeting, the board heard from parent Samantha Rogers on the topic of the return to school. “School is an anchor in a community, a safe place for many children in providing essential services including food stability, support and sometimes intervention. Safety is essential but we cannot ignore the importance of a safe base and consistent learning environment,” Rogers said. “With creative thinking and forward thinking we can go to full-time teaching. We need to start thinking of school beyond walls,” and suggested the district work with churches, granges and other organizations, “to open to small classes of 10 students, in small, normal in-person education. We can create safer, lower-risk environments for students and teachers. I know this will require more teachers, a lot of planning and money, but these times call for innovation and forward thinking. Why cannot the schools create these?"