April 13, 2021
Dear Brookings-Harbor School District families,
Approximately two weeks from now, for the first time in more than a year, Kalmiopsis Elementary students will begin returning to classrooms five days a week, for a new longer “expanded day.”
The target start date for the expanded day is Monday, April 26.
After we make the transition to expanded days, our elementary morning and afternoon in-person cohorts will combine into a single schedule from approximately 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. daily, five days a week (M,T,W,Th,F).
Exact details by grade and classroom will be shared soon with additional information and instructions to help your family navigate the schedule change.
The district is able to make this transition because the Oregon Department of Education recently changed its space-per-student requirements from 6 feet to 3 feet with some restrictions, matching new CDC guidance for schools. This allows us to bring more students into our classrooms, and we are excited to create more opportunities for students to be in school.
Making the transition to 5 hours of in-person instruction 5 days per week from our current hybrid model of 3-hour “half-days” 4 days per week brings the hope of recouping an additional three weeks’ worth of class time for our students before the end of the academic year in June.
Still, this decision was not made lightly. We surveyed KSchool parents and guardians, and our elementary teachers and staff about the possibility of changing our schedule at this point in the year. About 80 percent of the more than 200 K-School families who responded to our survey on the topic were in support of transitioning to expanded in-person time for students.
It is important to acknowledge both the staff and the families who preferred to remain with the half-day hybrid schedule. There was no perfect solution that would meet the wishes of 100 percent of our school community.
I appreciate the planning challenges and flexibility that our teachers and staff are engaging in to make a successful transition for all students. In the coming days they may be rearranging classrooms, rebooting systems and routines, updating lesson plans, and more to support the move to expanded days.
The change will also bring some additional risk of more extensive quarantines impacting more students when there is a positive COVID-19 case impacting students and staff. Please continue to do your part to minimize the spread of the virus in our community and do not come to school if your child has any concerning symptoms. We will continue to follow all the safety protocols that have been established this year such as wearing face masks, frequent hand washing and sanitation, and physical distancing.
Brookings-Harbor Online Academy will continue its operation, and students in this option will continue their virtual studies and are not part of the return to the classroom plan shared above. Due to space constraints, we are not able to accommodate transfer requests from online-only to in-person classes at this time. Families will be able to change to in-person classes for the start of the 21-22 school year.
To our families, thank you for staying the course this year and supporting your students and their teachers. We could not do it without you. Let’s work together to keep our doors open and finish the school year strong!
David Marshall, Superintendent
Brookings-Harbor School District