Vancouver Public Schools Superintendent Steve Webb plans to propose a timeline at Tuesday’s school board meeting that would have students in all elementary grades moving to twice-a-week, in-person learning by Feb. 1, the district announced Friday.
The recommended timeline is as follows: Jan. 19 for kindergartners, Jan. 25 for first- and second-graders and Feb. 1 for grades 3-5. Students will attend class in-person twice a week divided into Monday/Tuesday and Thursday/Friday pairings, and remain in remote learning three days a week. Families will continue to have the option to keep their children in full remote learning, the district said.
Middle and high school students could return to in-person learning in February, but that date is contingent on whether COVID-19 transmission levels meet new state guidelines announced by Gov. Jay Inslee last month.
This week, Vancouver returned 953 students across all grades deemed academically at-risk for in-person assistance with remote learning. The district welcomed kindergartners in small-group pods for in-person learning Nov. 16. Webb clarified Friday while the number of kindergarten students in each class remains the same; students will expand to a near full day of kindergarten Jan. 19.
