In a push to get hundreds of thousands of Washington students to return to in-person learning, Gov. Jay Inslee announced new, significantly less-stringent state standards on Wednesday that aim to push local school districts to reopen schools.
The new standards emphasize returning the youngest students to schools first, and encourage school districts to do so, even in regions where COVID-19 rates are highest.
Inslee said that only about 15 percent of the state’s 1.2 million K-12 students are getting any in-person schooling.
Inslee’s new standards tell schools to reopen for all students when COVID-19 cases in a region are below 50 cases per 100,000 residents over 14 days.
If cases are between 50 and 350 per 100,000 residents, the new standards encourage districts to open elementary and middle schools.
And in regions with more than 350 cases per 100,000 residents, the new standards encourage elementary school students to be returned to school in small groups of 15 or fewer.
King County currently has 409 cases per 100,000 residents over the last 14 days, according to data from Public Health — Seattle & King County.
The recommendations previously released by the state Department of Health strongly advised schools to stay remote if the per capita infection rate in their counties was above 75 cases per 100,000 residents.
Inslee stressed that while he has the authority to close schools, he does not have the authority to order them to reopen and that remains a local decision.
“We have held students’ and educators’ well-being foremost in our minds with these decisions,” Inslee said at a news conference in Olympia. “There is risk in returning to campuses, but we are confident now that the risks will be mitigated as long as there is adherence to health and safety measures, like wearing masks, maintaining 6 feet of physical distance, increased cleaning and improved ventilation.”
He said the state has new data that it did not have six or even three months ago showing schools have not been major drivers of coronavirus outbreaks.
He said there have been a few infections traced to schools, but “most have been relatively small with two to five cases, including in counties where COVID activity is far higher than we want it to be.”
Inslee announced $3 million in federal funding would be sent to school districts for school safety planning. And he said he was issuing a proclamation to stress that safety guidelines — including wearing a mask and practicing social distancing — are required by law.
Earlier this week, the Bellevue School District announced that it would return to in-person schooling in January, at least part-time, for kindergartners through second graders.
