School Closure: What Kennewick families need to know
KENNEWICK, Wash.-- The Kennewick School Board held an emergency meeting Friday evening to discuss how it would implement Gov. Jay Inslee's order to close all schools in the state of Washington for six weeks in an effort to reduce the rate of the spread of COVID-19.
So far, there have been no confirmed positive cases of cornavirus in Benton or Franklin Counties, however, there are several possible cases currently undergoing testing, and health officials say it's only a matter of time before the virus is confirmed to be in the greater Tri-Cities area.
According to Gov. Inslee's order, all schools in the state must close no later than Tuesday, March 17, 2020. For students in the Kennewick School District, that means Monday will be a normal school day.
All non-essential school activities and travel is cancelled as of Saturday, March 14, 2020, until further notice.
Starting Tuesday, students currently enrolled in YMCA before and after school programs will continue to attend those programs as they would on a no-school day. The children of first responders and health care workers will also have the option to attend the YMCA programs. For now, it's not known whether KSD will be able to provide nutrition services for the YMCA program, so families are encouraged to provide children with a lunch and snacks.
The Boys and Girls Club of Benton and Franklin Counties also plans to remain open during the school closure to provide a place for kids to go if their parents are working.
Starting Tuesday, schools in the Kennewick School District will provide "grab-and-go" bagged breakfast and lunch each normal school day. The locations and times for students to pick up meals will be released on Monday.
School district officials are still working through many of the details about what will happen once students return on April 27th, how many of the missed days will need to be made up, and how graduations might be impacted.
Students will be allowed to take home personal items after school on Monday, and those who have been issued a Chromebook will be allowed to take those home as well.
"There are probably still more questions than answers at this point," Superintendent Dr. Traci Pierce told school board members Friday evening. "We have plans to get answers to those questions as soon as possible. We still have lots of work to do about what's the role of our staff during this time."
According to Gov. Inslee's order, the closure of schools in the state is scheduled to continue through Friday, April 24, with classes expected to resume Monday, April 27th. The Kennewick School District plans to send emails to parents, as well as update their website and social media pages as more information about the six-week closure becomes available.
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