Coronavirus FAQs

The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) changed its position on educational services after the first two weeks of school closure. The new guidance is that education must continue during the closure.

In response, we developed a plan for distance learning, announced to families on March 30. We invited families to pick up devices, if needed, from their school sites. By the middle of April, we distributed more than 10,000 devices to ensure that students could communicate with teachers and connect for distance learning.

Here are is where to find more details about Highline's distance learning plan and specific information for the Class of 2020:

Distance Learning Information

The distance learning section of the website includes:

• Distance Learning Overview
• Elementary Distance Learning (including resources, FAQs and student expectations)
• Middle & High School Distance Learning (including resources, FAQs and student expectations)
• Technology Support

Class of 2020 Information

In addition, there is a Class of 2020 website section to cover questions and concerns about credits and graduation requirements and ceremonies for high school seniors and their families.

We appreciate your patience as we adjust and re-adjust to shifting circumstances and direction. Thank you!

During the distance learning phase of our school closure, teachers are reaching out to provide guidance and learning support. We have also added elementary and middle/high school distance learning information sections to our website.

Please check out the website section above and contact your teacher for further information on how you can support your student.

As a parent, it was up to your judgement to keep your child home due to a health concern.

Some children and staff may be at higher risk for severe illness because of underlying health conditions or a weakened immune system. Public Health advised that families consult with their healthcare provider to decide the best course of action. 

If you decided to keep your child home, the absence was excused.

Per our teachers’ contract, lost school days due to emergency closure would be made up on the Tuesday after Memorial Day and then at the end of the school year. The snow make-up day for Tuesday, January 14 is scheduled for Tuesday, May 26. 

 

The last day of school has changed from the date originally designated on our 2019-20 student calendar. The state school superintendent has designated June 19 as the last day of school for grades Pre-K through 11. 

The last day of school for high school seniors is June 12. 

 

Students will be engaged in distance learning, focusing on essential grade-level standards. This will be different than classroom learning but will provide students with instruction in the most important learning for their grade level.

Our intent is to move students to the next grade in the fall. Our job next fall will be to assess which students need extra support and to provide the support they need to get up to grade level. This means that some students will need to achieve more than one year’s growth next school year. While this is always the case, we are likely to have more students who need additional support next year.

The Technology Support page in the distance learning section of this website has a lot of information to support students and families with using devices, learning applications and the Internet.  It includes the following sections:

• Information on Your District-Issued Chromebook
• How to Connect a Device to the Internet
• How to Use Google Classroom as a Student
• How to Use SeeSaw
• How to Troubleshoot Issues on a Chromebook
• How to Reboot Devices
• How to Clear the Block Screen on Your Chromebook
• How to Switch Accounts

If you have checked the information above and still have questions, please contact your teacher directly.

Here's a timeline of when we closed school buildings and when we were directed to begin distance learning for the remainder of the 2019-20 school year:

• March 13, 2020: Governor Inslee issued an executive order closing all schools in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties until at least April 24. All Highline schools closed to students, effective Monday, March 16.
   
• March 25, 2020: The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) changed its position on educational services during this school closure. The new guidance is that education must continue during the closure. See our distance learning plan for more information.

School meals will be provided for students during the closure. Meals will be available to all students under the age of 18. No forms or registration are required. Family members can drop by any of our identified sites to pick up meal(s) for students. Students do not need to be present.

Here are the summer meal site locations and times.

All activities, athletics and after school programs are canceled during the closure.

We are suspending all school day and overnight field trips, including Camp Waskowitz, through the remainder of the 2019-20 school year.

All athletics are suspended through the remainder of the 2019-20 school year.

Yes, the use of facilities for event gatherings is suspended through the remainder of the 2019-20 school year while buildings are closed.

We love and appreciate our volunteers. Since school buildings are closed, and there is a Stay Home, Stay Healthy mandate from the state, the best way to help our students (besides staying home to limit the spread of the coronavirus), is to donate funds--if you are able--to the Highline Schools Foundation. This will help us continue to provide free school meals and assistance needed during this crisis. The Highline Schools Foundation is working with many partner organizations to help families in need in our community.

Novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is a new virus strain spreading from person-to-person since December 2019. Health experts are concerned because little is known about this new virus and it has the potential to cause severe illness and pneumonia in some people.

Guidelines from Public Health.

Common symptoms include cough, fever (higher than 100°F), shortness of breath, sore throat, and general muscle aches. These symptoms generally appear 2 to 14 days after exposure.

Guidelines from Public Health.

Health experts are still learning more about the spread. Currently it is thought to spread:

• through respiratory droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes
• between people who are in close contact with one another (within about 6 feet)
• by touching a surface or object with the virus and then touching the mouth, nose, or eyes

Guidelines from Public Health.

As adults, it’s important we remain calm with our actions and words, and share factual information. Sharing accurate information during a time of heightened concern is critical. One of the ways we can protect our community from illness is to keep rumors and misinformation from spreading.

Here are some resources you may use to talk about the coronavirus with students: 

• Video: Coronavirus Explained for Kids
• Just For Kids: A Comic Exploring The New Coronavirus
• Talking to Teens and Tweens About Coronavirus

We recognize that students may be curious, confused or anxious about coronavirus. Our social work staff has developed some tips for talking with children about this outbreak.  

Where can I find more information about the coronavirus?
Stay up to date by consulting the following webpages:

• Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
• Washington Department of Health (DOH), Coronavirus School Resources and Recommendations
• Public Health – Seattle and King County (PHSKC), Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

This is an evolving situation. Stay up to date by consulting the following webpages:

• Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
• Washington Department of Health (DOH), Coronavirus School Resources and Recommendations
• Public Health – Seattle and King County (PHSKC), Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Public Health has specific advice for people who have been confirmed with COVID-19, have been around someone with COVID-19, or are feeling unwell but haven’t been in close contact with someone with COVID-19. Read Public Health guidance.

Early on, Governor Inslee issued the expectation that public schools would provide childcare for school-age children of healthcare workers and first responders. This was to prevent a shortage of healthcare workers during the public health crisis.

District staff volunteered to provide childcare at two sites, White Center Heights Elementary and Midway Elementary schools for the first weeks.  Now childcare is being provided by the YMCA at the White Center Heights Elementary site, as well as other YMCA sites. The YMCA and other providers are listed on our Community Resources page.