More in-person days for students in grades 7-12

By Shannon Weidemann (McKone) on Wednesday, January 20th, 2021 in Eastern/Southeast Oregon News More Top Stories

BAKER CITY– (Release from the Baker School District) Beginning January 25, in-person schedules for Middle and High School students will increase to two days a week. This move results from a change in the Ready Schools/Safe Learners guidance published today by the Oregon Department of Education which increases the cohort size from 50 to 100 people per week.

“This change allows us to transition to a rotation for secondary students to participate in-person every other day, instead of one day a week,” said Baker 5J Superintendent Mark Witty. “Secondary staff are excited for the opportunity to increase the amount of time they can interact with students in person.”

The Baker School District has been operating a regular schedule of in-person classes for elementary students since October 14. Secondary students have been in-person one day a week since November 9.

“Bringing a larger cohort onto campus could impact the number of contact tracing calls required in the event of a positive COVID diagnosis,” said Witty. “Baker County Health officials have agreed to this plan and believe they have the capacity to manage the additional contact tracing that may be required under the expanded in- person instruction model at the secondary level. We are prepared to lend additional contact tracing support to the Health Department, should it be needed.”

The district collaborated with Baker County Health Department officials to ensure their back-to-school plans follow state guidelines. Students are screened for symptoms of illness daily; individuals affected by exposure to COVID-19 are moved into distance learning for the quarantine period, per Oregon Health Authority and Oregon Department of Education guidelines.

At the time of this communication, there has been no spread within the schools based on information gathered by the Baker County Health Department.

“Moving to more in-person time has worked well for us,” said Witty. “I am very appreciative of the dedication and commitment of our staff, without their efforts we would be unable to serve students safely on site. They have diligently applied the disinfecting and hygiene protocols outlined in Ready Schools/Safe Learners.

Contact tracing data show positive cases among staff and students have resulted from interactions outside the school environment.”