The Hoquiam School Board has unanimously approved an all online learning model to begin the 2020-21 school year.

The plan, laid out at a special meeting Monday, also includes provisions to reopen on-site learning as soon as it is safe to do so for staff and students.

Superintendent Mike Villarreal said the district has been working closely with the county and the state Department of Health to draft the plan.

“The bottom line to why (the district is reopening all online Sept. 2) is we want to keep staff and students safe,” said Villarreal. “I give a lot of kudos to the people who are working behind the scenes. Everybody has been hands-on in this and it has been nonstop, working to make sure we provide the very best we can for our kids.”

“The idea is to do everything we can to return things to an effective and quality education,” said board president Don Eide.

District Director of Teaching and Learning Mary White gave an overview of the plan to the board, which includes two parts: The first will be the all virtual model to start the year, the second is a hybrid model to safely bring students back to in person learning.

White said kids returning to on-site learning “probably won’t be all at once, we’re not throwing everybody in and then saying oh, this doesn’t work.”

When school starts Sept. 2, all students can register for the 100% virtual option through the district, where they are assigned to a classroom teacher in a particular grade and course, receive a weekly schedule with virtual instruction provided, and have regular contact with that teacher. Once schools reopen to face-to-face instruction, students can re-enter with the assigned classroom teacher or continue the 100% virtual option.

For grades 3-12 there is the Homelink online option which is a multi-district provider similar to free public school online programs. Students are provided a case manager for support and accountability.

The virtual option is split between asynchronous and synchronous learning. Asynchronous is typically working on assignments or projects, or watching assigned videos, doing background work gaining the knowledge necessary to enter the synchronous — live sessions through video conferencing, students learning at the same time — portion of the day.

The district’s plan outlines some specifics on how a student’s day may look. At the middle and elementary school levels, days start with a live check-in or homeroom. High school students will have live classes until lunchtime; afternoons are asynchronous save for some electives. Live instruction will take place in the afternoons at the elementary and middle schools.

Making sure the students and their parents are prepared for online learning is step one. Both will be trained on the programs needed for online learning, and on the operation of the Chromebooks to be provided to each student. These will be individually scheduled conferences during the first week of school.

For those registered through the district for online learning, elementary school students will be assigned to a classroom in their regular school. Middle school students will be assigned to a “cohort group” in their grade level. High schoolers will be assigned by course, three per quarter.

Attendance will be tracked at all grade levels, which wasn’t required in the spring but is this fall, with teachers tracking daily engagement through Google Classroom. Instruction will include a daily schedule, consistent assignment and schedule drop times, recorded instructional videos, live classroom check-ins via Zoom or instruction and social and emotional support, and Zoom office hours will be made available for questions and assistance.

“Communication and support for our families is number one,” said White. “Many of our parents are at work all day and worried about how to monitor their kids’ work, ‘if I was working and came home could I look at what they were supposed to do today,’ and how can we support each other in this?”

While normal grading was not conducted when schools were forced to shut down in the spring, it will return in the fall. Student work will be assigned and graded at all levels. The plan states, for middle and high school students, “In the absence of any overriding state directions on grading, student work will be based on mastery of the Washington State Learning Standards set by the state and district,” and the grading scale established in district student handbooks.

Special programs will be made available at school buildings in small group and individual settings, with safety protocols in place. Some programs will be made available as needed.

Meal service will continue as grab and go. Starting the first day of school, the district will move to the National School Lunch and Breakfast Program, and unlike summer meals, the program will be open to enrolled district students. Two additional sites Humptulips and Copalis Crossing, will be added to accommodate rural students. A schedule will be released ahead of the school year.

The current plan calls for all staff coming to work at their school buildings, said Villarreal, who said the district is working out those details with the unions. Strict safety measures will be in place.

Villarreal is also looking at duties some non-instructional staff can perform; for instance, there won’t be the usual bus service, and with no students on site janitorial services won’t be needed as frequently, but “we’ve been looking at positions and hours and we’re going to keep as many people in the boat as possible,” for meal distribution and other duties.

The plan must be approved by the state, and will be posted on the district website two weeks before school starts; however, the district is working to make sure as much information as possible gets to students and parents quickly so families can make plans. Updates can be found on the district website, https://www.hoquiam.net/hoquiam, and Facebook page.