July 16, 2020 3:15 p.m.
On Thursday, Governor Kate Brown issued a statement on schools in Oregon, following a meeting of the Healthy Schools Reopening Council.
Brown said, “As COVID-19 continues to spread across Oregon, it has become clear that school this fall will not look like a normal year”. She said most Oregon students are in districts that will focus on online distance learning or have a hybrid model with some online education and some in-person time.
Brown said she is pushing school officials to make sure underserved and marginalized students – kids of color and low-income kids, get the support and opportunities they need. She said, “We cannot allow our response to this pandemic to increase racial disparities in educational outcomes”.
Brown said whether or not kids are in school buildings this fall, the state must provide the “…very best possible education for every single Oregon student, while ensuring the school experience is as safe as possible for everyone”, including students, educators, support staff, parents and the community at large.
Brown said the council received an update on public health COVID-19 metric from representatives of the Oregon Health Authority. The release said acknowledging that variations exist in COVID-19 spread county-by-county, council members began consideration of what specific metrics should guide local decisions about when and whether to shift from in-person to remote instruction during the school year.
Also discussed was the specific needs for students who do enter school building and the educators who serve them, including how to implement health and safety measures to limit the spread of the disease, such as the use of face coverings for students, how many students should be in a classroom at one time, and strategies for transportation with school bus capacity limited by physical distancing, according to the release.
The Healthy Schools Reopening Council has 42 members from around the state, including elected officials, students, teachers, and public health officials. Douglas County members include Dr. Bob Dannenhoffer, Chief Strategist for Douglas Public Health Network, and Melissa Wilk, a teacher at Glide Elementary School.