MLSD plans for online learning if ordered to close

MOSES LAKE — Moses Lake School District is working on plans to teach students online in the event the district is forced to close as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Speaking at a regular meeting of the Moses Lake School District on Thursday, Superintendent Josh Meek said the district was following guidelines from the Grant County Health District to schools across the county to prepare for possible closures.

“It’s probably inevitable for us,” Meek said.

While there has been only one confirmed case of COVID-19 in Grant County so far, Meek said it was prudent for the school district to plan for “the worst case scenario” and work out “all the things we’d have to do to close the schools.”

On Thursday, Gov. Jay Inslee ordered all public and private schools in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties closed for six weeks to limit the spread of the coronavirus, which first emerged in the United States in the Seattle area.

The MLSD has canceled “all indoor sports, events, concerts, and meetings involving the public” in order to “limit and eliminate unnecessary exposure” to the virus, Meek said.

School continues, however, in the hope that canceling events “beyond the typical scope of school operations” will keep the district from having to make more difficult choices, he added.

Meek said it is his understanding that the effects and spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in Eastern Washington is about 10 days behind where it is in the counties of Puget Sound.

A closure would be disruptive, Meek said, noting that the simple closure of all schools in the three West Side counties has also forced cancellation of all statewide testing this spring.

“The will be met with a level of cheer,” Meek said. “Testing takes over the schools in the spring.”

Every student in fifth through 12th grade has a district-issued Chromebook computer, making it easier for quarantined teachers to teach quarantined students, Meek said. Still, if the schools are closed, the district would have to “get creative” with instruction, especially for students in kindergarten through third grade.

“This is a tough situation,” said board member Bryce McPartland.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at cfeatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com.