Schools waiting on re-opening criteria

The future remains cloudy for a few more days for local schools following the Idaho State Board of Education’s special meeting on Monday afternoon.

Following last week’s meeting where it was announced that the SBOE would extend their soft-closure recommendation through the end of the school, but also determined that they would leave the final decision to re-open schools up to local health officials who would have a set criteria that would need to be met before they could make any determinations.

That criteria was initially supposed to be available today, but the SBOE announced that it wouldn’t have it ready for the public until later this week.

The reason for delay wasn’t specifically discussed, but was likely due to the SBOE wanting to wait until after Idaho Gov. Brad Little’s address on Wednesday morning which will end or extend his stay-home order which began on March 25.

Kellogg School District Superintendent Dr. Nancy Larsen had voiced her frustration following last week’s meeting, but following Monday’s meeting she reiterated that the district is simply awaiting guidance from the SBOE so they can make a determination for the rest of the school year.

“At this point, we do not have a specific date for reopening our buildings,” Larsen said. “We are waiting for direction from the governor, regional health care professionals and the State Board of Education.”

In the interim, Larsen plans on staying the course, meeting with elected officials and looking at the big picture.

“I am gathering all the information I can to make the best-informed decision for our future,” Larsen said. “Our Kellogg School District Board of Trustees will be meeting every two weeks to examine this information and discuss our next steps. Until then, schools will remain in soft closure and we will continue to deliver instruction both online and on paper. Please know we find it very difficult to be away from students, we miss our daily interactions, but we also want everyone to be safe.”

All three school districts in Shoshone County have been existing in the realm of soft closure, providing online and virtual learning opportunities, as well as compiled packets of work that students have been working on so as to maintain their education efforts through the pandemic.

All three schools have also been providing their students with free lunches throughout the closure, Kellogg in particular served more than 500 students last Wednesday alone.

Gov. Little will address the public on Wednesday at 11 a.m. which can be viewed live on the governor’s Facebook page.