KHS moving to remote-only learning schedule

KELLOGG — Timing right up with Gov. Brad Little's plea to Idahoans that they should "do the right thing to get the (COVID) incident rate down," the Kellogg School District has announced that classes at the high school will be shifting to "remote-only" starting next week.

"We know that he (Gov. Little) and many people share our concerns about the well-being and education of our students and staff. Therefore, we must measure the two very carefully," said KSD superintendent Nancy Larsen.

This announcement comes on the heels of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare reporting that COVID-19 was the leading cause of death in Idaho for the month of November.

Based largely on the absentee rates being reported at Kellogg High School, the KSD administrative leadership team made the decision on Thursday to have the high school students shift to fully online classes on Dec. 14.

Larsen states that 40% of KHS's student population was absent on Dec. 10 and that number has been only getting bigger. Of that 40%, she added that 85% were confirmed to be absent due to COVID-related reasons.

In pre-COVID times, the Panhandle Health District would have a recommendation to close school if the student absentee percentage hit a certain mark. Now though, that isn't exactly the case.

"The spreadsheet that I keep with the secretaries (of the schools) takes into account four reasons for an absence — sick with COVID, quarantined because of COVID, non-COVID related, or unknown," Larsen explained. "We look within those numbers to see what they are. For example, if a significant amount are COVID-related, we may be more likely to cancel school."

Larsen stresses that the district needs to know why a child isn't going to school so they can have the most accurate information to make a decision.

Under the fully online system, KHS students will continue to utilize their "purple" or "gold" designations to "attend" school, via Google Meets, on their designated days. Attendance will be taken as usual during remote learning. Wednesday will also remain as a "office hours" day where students can chat one-on-one with teachers.

KSD is also monitoring the other schools on an hour-to-hour basis.

Kellogg Middle School reported a 20% student absentee rate on Thursday, Pinehurst Elementary reported a 19% rate on Tuesday, and Canyon Elementary reported only a 7% rate (with 40% of its staff being gone as well). All of these schools will remain on their current hybrid schedules until stated otherwise.

Larsen believes that KSD has been doing their best to prevent the spread of the virus by committing to wearing masks, social distancing when possible, conducting enhanced cleanings and performing contact tracing.

"We will continue to be diligent with these precautions and will constantly re-evaluate our school plans," she added. "Thank you to our staff, students, parents and community members for supporting us and fighting to keep kids in school by taking the same precautions to prevent the spread of the virus."

As of Thursday, PHD reports that Shoshone County has 179 active COVID-19 cases and 23 virus-related deaths.