Othello students stay in online instruction

OTHELLO — All students in the Othello School District will stay in all-online instruction at least through the start of winter break, Dec. 18.

Kindergarten through third-grade students had been scheduled to return to hybrid, or on-campus instruction part-time, on

Dec. 7. But hybrid instruction was delayed after Othello School Board members adopted guidelines for the number of COVID-19 cases in the district that would trigger a school closure.

The plan establishes two sets of guidelines, one for preschool through sixth grade and a second for seventh-graders through high school seniors. They’re based on the rate of coronavirus cases in Adams County, as calculated per 100,000 people over two weeks.

For preschool through sixth grade, a case rate greater than 400 cases per 100,000 people will mean all-online instruction. A rate between 100 and 400 cases per 100,000 people will trigger a return to part-time on campus instruction. One hundred cases per 100,000 people, or less, will allow a return to traditional school.

Seventh-graders through high school students will remain in online instruction as long as the case rate is 300 cases per 100,000 people or more. Hybrid instruction will start when the case rate reaches 100 to 300 cases per 100,000 people. A case rate of 100 per 100,000 people, or less, will mean a return to traditional school.

The school board vote was 3-2, with board members Lindsy Prows and Sharon Schutte voting “no.” Board members Mike Garza, Jenn Stevenson and Ken Johnson voted in favor.