With statewide school closures in effect until at least April 24, the Edmonds School District Board of Directors held its March 24 meeting remotely to discuss the district’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Meeting via Zoom — a remote conferencing video chat service — the board received a briefing on how the district plans to continue educating students while schools are closed.

During the meeting, district staff briefed boardmembers on the plans to continue education through distributing learning materials to students this week. Now, Executive Director for Student Learning Rob Baumgartner said the district has begun to develop a plan for teaching students remotely.

Initially, Baumgartner said the district would primarily focus on reinforcing material students have already learned. With direction from the Department of Education and State Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), he said the district will roll out plans regarding remote learning next week.

“As soon as we are able to get…a timeline, our goal is to communicate that back to families,” he said. “We want to make sure we’re trained to access the functionality (for remote teaching) to ensure learning.”

For more information about supplemental learning materials, visit the district’s website.

Wednesday morning, staff began distributing Chromebooks to all district students. According to Baumgartner, the district has received 1,600 requests for Chromebooks. For families who do not have access to the internet, the district has partnered with internet service providers to offer eligible families free WiFi hotspots. An initial 200 hotspots will be distributed, and Baumgartner said the district intends to order more.

“We’re really excited we’ve provided the technology (to students),” Baumgartner said.

Additionally, staff announced all district playgrounds are closed until further notice to prevent the spread of COVID-19. While use of playfields is not prohibited, the staff is encouraging social distancing, and gatherings of large groups are prohibited.

Staff also updated the board on its ongoing efforts to provide free childcare families lost due to school closures. On Tuesday, the district and Right at School — the district’s contracted before- and after-school enrichment program — began offering free child care to families. The district has prioritized families of first responders and health care workers. Child care services are being held at Lynnwood Elementary School, which has a 90-student capacity. Currently, the district is serving 35 students. If the demand for more care rises, Baumgartner said the district will work with community partners to meet families’ needs.

The district is also taking precautions against the spread of COVID-19 by ensuring students and workers receive daily check ups — including having their temperature checked — before they go into childcare facilities, said district spokesperson Harmony Weinberg.

“All child care workers and nurses get their temperatures checked before starting the day with kids,” she said. “The kids are checked each day upon arrival.”

The district will also be working with high school seniors who still have graduation requirements to meet. Baumgartner said the district is developing plans for students taking dual-credit courses like advanced placement (AP) and international baccalaureate (IB) and students might be able to receive waivers for up to two credits.

Additionally, all state student testing has been canceled. However, OSPI is still allowing a testing window for students who use Smarter Balanced Assessments (SBA) to meet graduation requirements. If the district is unable to offer SBA testing for any reason, seniors will be allowed to go through the expedited appeal process.

Staff also provided boardmembers with an update on how the district is continuing to serve families during the school closures.

Last week, district staff spent time while schools were closed developing plans on how to continue to provide students with free meals, child care for first responders and health care workers. According to Baumgartner, the district has served 11,840 meals to students and delivered more than 1,000 meals to families unable to access a pick-up location.

Director Ann McMurray praised the work district staff had done in recent weeks in response to closures. She also encouraged the district to continue to prioritize keeping the community updated on future changes to services being provided by the district.

“Hopefully we are…getting out information to parents as soon as (questions) are answered at a state level,” McMurray said.

Superintendent Kris McDuffy also praised staff, and told parents, students and families that the district empathizes with them. She also said that the district is in constant contact with state officials as the response to the virus changes.

“The only thing constant right now is change,” McDuffy said.

During the meeting, Finance Director Lydia Sellie provided an update on the effects the school closures have had on the district. According to Sellie, the district has not lost any revenue at this time. However, Sellie said the district might see a dip in property tax revenues, which will be reported at the board’s April meeting. She said that if the Snohomish County Assessor’s Office delays property tax payments, then the district might see a loss in property tax revenue.

“We will be keeping a close eye on any decrease in revenue and increase in expenditures during this pandemic,” she said.

Sellie also said that while schools are closed, the district will not be making trigger payments to teachers whose classes exceed normal sizes. Additionally, she said the district is incurring extra expenditures by purchasing more cleaning supplies and paying more for custodial staff. The district is also losing revenue from rental properties while school facilities are closed, Sellie said.

“Right now it doesn’t seem extreme, but we’ll continue monitoring (the situation),” he said.

In other business, the board unanimously voted to approve the contract between the district and Dr. Gustavo Balderas, the district’s next superintendent. He is replacing McDuffy, who is retiring. Earlier this month, the board unanimously voted to extend an offer to Balderas, who previously served at the Eugene School District in Oregon. Balderas will start July 1.

Fore more COVID-19-related updates, visit the district’s website.

–By Cody Sexton