SPOKANE, Wash. — With COVID-19 protocols firmly in place and wildfire smoke well out of the Spokane area, schools within the Mead School District were finally able to begin classes on Monday.
The start of the school year was pushed back a week due to hazardous air quality caused by wildfires burning throughout the Northwest.
"It didn't matter where we were, we were breathing the smoke," said Travis Killman, who has three children in the Mead School District. "So it was a little bit frustrating. We kind of wish [the kids] would have gone to school last week, but it is what it is."
Despite the delay, Killman was still in a pleasant mood on Monday as he snapped first day of school photos of his children who attend Evergreen Elementary.
"It's different, it's overwhelming. It's given us the opportunity to kid of focus on what it really means to be a family and how we take care of each other," Killman said, reflecting on at-home learning his kids did during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. "But at the same time, we're eager to get them out of the house for a minute."
Teachers and staff at Evergreen were equally excited to have the school year finally starting.
"I'm just so pumped to be back at school. I'm so excited to see the kids," said principal Michael Danford. "I know my administrative colleagues and my principal colleagues were working hard to figure out the best, the safest way to get our kids back with us in our space."
The Mead School District has provided families with some options regarding the return to school. Notably, the district has offered families the choice to continue at-home online learning for the time being.
Some families have taken the district up on the offer, too. According to Danford, just over 100 Evergreen students were learning online to start the school year and 350 children were at the school on Monday for in-person instruction.
"We are here for kids and we want to be with kids, face to face," the principal said.
According to the district's reopening plan, students in grades K-5 will learn in person five days a week. Middle and high school students, however, are starting off the year with a hybrid schedule. One group of students attends classes in person on Mondays, Wednesdays and every other Friday, while the other group attends on Tuesdays, Thursdays and every other Friday. When they home, students complete assignments as well.
If a COVID-19 infection or outbreak occurs, Mead Superintendent Shawn Woodward says students and staff already have the technology necessary to pivot the whole district to online learning.
"We are confident that we can pivot rather quickly," Woodward said. "We have the technology in our students' and staffs' hands right now in the event that that does happen. We are also prepared for classes and schools to possibly shut down, and it's more likely that that will happen rather than the whole school district."
The schedule changes are in addition to various sanitary and social distancing protocols being used at Mead schools. Evergreen's playground, for example, is off limits for the time being.
"There are lots of new protocols," Danford said. "We want to be outside, for an example, at recess. But we can't just go out and play and be close to each other like we used to be."
Mead School District implements safety protocols for students
Additionally, parents are being asked to complete daily "attestation" forms that confirm that their child is healthy, according to information on the district's website.
"Yeah, there are a lot of changes. It's crazy and different," Danford said. "But I've got to tell you, we're ready. I feel comfortable and confident myself, and we're ready to get this thing going. See our kids and do our good work as teachers and educators."
As of Monday, it wasn't immediately clear what impacts the week-long delayed start of the school year would have in the long-term. A district spokesperson told KREM that the district is still "assessing what last week's cancellation means for the last day of school at the end of the year." For now, the last day of the school year remains June 23.
Although coronavirus activity has started to decline in Washington and Spokane County, Woodward said he doesn't see school returning to normal this year.
"If I had to guess, I think this school year will look the way it does today with the social distancing and the masking," he said. "It would be fantastic if that could loosen up a little bit, but we really don't see that happening in the near future."
Around 72% of families chose to send their students back to school in person, according to Woodward. That means 7,500 students are returning for completely in-person or hybrid learning.
"Our students haven't been in our building for six months," Woodward said. "I think they're just raring to go and excited for the first day."