A small, but growing number of schools around the country are shutting their doors to try
to stem the spread of the coronavirus. That includes a number of colleges and universities.
It's just a fraction of public elementary and high schools. But, so far, more than 620
schools have closed or are scheduled to close, affecting more than 430,000 students.
Washington state was the early epicenter in the U.S.
And John Yang has a look at one of the school districts there that decided to take this
step.
JOHN YANG: The Northshore School District, north of Seattle in Washington state, has
shifted all its classes for its more than 23,500 students from brick-and-mortar classrooms
to the Internet for at least two weeks.
Michelle Reid is the superintendent of the Northshore School District. She joins us from
Seattle.
Superintendent Reid, thanks so much for being with us.
In your letter to parents explaining this decision, you said that: "We are no longer
able to provide quality instruction and maintain an environment that is safe for our staff
and students to learn."
What led you to that conclusion? ®MD+IT¯®MD-IT¯
MICHELLE REID, Superintendent, Northshore School District: Well, there are several issues.
Northshore is uniquely situated, with two counties and three cities, and within our
two counties, we have the highest number of coronavirus-identified cases and deaths in
the United States.
We also had a significant number of staff that met the four criteria for at risk. So
I really could no longer safely open and operate school without quality staff supporting the
educational process in a brick-and-mortar campus.
We also had escalating absentee rates, up to 20 percent just prior to us making the
decision to transition school from the classroom to the cloud.
And it's our first day. We were only at 500 students not able to log again. Therefore,
we actually are at a 2 percent absence rate.
JOHN YANG: How does this actually work? Students log in on their computers at home, and what
happens?
MICHELLE REID: So, we're -- it's an online platform we're utilizing.
So we actually a daily schedule for students. And there are times that they log in for classes
and their discussion boards. And the teachers have been working really hard and our support
professionals to provide lessons and content that is sent in some cases by video and others
by attached documents and discussion boards, so that we're able to maintain our Northshore
quality of education during this health crisis.
JOHN YANG: Was there an issue with students who didn't have a computer or didn't have
Internet service at home?
MICHELLE REID: Absolutely.
We are a district that has a lot of resources that not all communities and districts have.
We have received approximately 4,000 requests for computer devices and about 300 requests
for mobile hot spots, which we have been able to meet.
And I also think it underscores a broader national conversation about equity and access
to technology and the Internet and students' access dependent still on their zip code in
this country.
So, hopefully, when this health crisis passes, it's a conversation we can take up in earnest.
JOHN YANG: In your letter to the parents, you also said that education is a service,
it is not a place.
But there are certain things that are provided at that place that the service is usually
provided. For instance, I know that 15 percent of your students qualify for free or reduced
lunches.
You obviously have students who require -- have special needs, and there are certain families
that have child care issues during the day for younger students in particular. What happens
or what are you doing about those students?
MICHELLE REID: Well, so, let me be clear that overriding all of those concerns are the health
and safety of our students and staff and our ability to slow the spread of this coronavirus,
whereas social distancing has been the recommendation number one for us.
Having said that, we have gotten a team together. And we are providing food today to those students
who have asked for food. We're doing at four brick-and-mortar sites and also delivering
to 16 remote school sites.
So, all students and families who want or need food as -- or rely on the schools for
food are able to procure food. The same with child care. We're going to be supporting community
sites for child care for those families who require it, as long as we can maintain that
in a health -- healthy and safe way.
So we're trying to continue to provide those services, while we take care of our professional
educators and support staff and students by keeping them safe with a social distancing
plan.
JOHN YANG: You said that this is initially going to be for two weeks.
At the end of the two weeks, how do you decide whether to go back to the brick-and-mortar
classroom?
MICHELLE REID: We're going to be evaluating that on a day-to-day basis. We will continue
to look at our data and the fact pattern locally and nationally, and we will make those decisions
as they come.
Our ability to move from classroom to cloud and back is going to enable us to continue
to be nimble in our decision-making. And we're providing parents daily communication, as
well as students.
JOHN YANG: Michelle Reid, superintendent of the Northshore School District in Washington
state, thank you very much.
MICHELLE REID: Thank you.