NASELLE — As the new coronavirus went from being a foreign news item to an imminent local threat in very short time, the state government and local schools had very little time to prepare. The Naselle-Grays River District, like other districts throughout the country, scrambled to put together a response. On Friday, Gov. Jay Inslee announced a statewide school closure to run from March 17 through at least April 24.

“Probably a couple of weeks ago we first started discussing a remote possibility,” Superintendent Lisa Nelson said. As last week went on, the possibility became increasingly real. But they were just coming off mid-winter break, figuring things out on the fly.

“Honestly, before we could really delve into it we had the [Tuesday] announcement by the Governor that schools in three counties [King, Pierce and Snohomish] were closing,” Nelson said. “We started considering what kind of technology to use. But we weren’t really getting much guidance from the OSPI [Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction]; I’m sure they were just swamped.”

Gearing up for gearing down

On March 12, when Oregon announced its statewide school closure, Nelson realized Washington would almost certainly be next; that afternoon, Inslee announced schools would close starting March 17. Naselle-Grays River schools sent a letter home with students that Friday. The letter explained how to continue receiving meal service, detailed that graduation ceremonies would still go forward, and explained that the school year would extend five days into the summer, June 15-19. That obviously would not make up for all missed days, but the state is waiving those requirements.

The district also decided to hold school on Monday, the final day the state was permitting schools to remain open, so that teachers could communicate with students about plans for the closure.

“We wanted to have that day to work with the kids and find out how to best serve them,” Nelson said. Plans for the closure are individualized by teacher, class and even student.

“It’s such a broad approach,” Nelson said. “We’re a K-12 school; we have some teachers who teach everything from sixth grade through seniors in high school. A lot of [the response] is individualized by class. Some are working on reading goals, some students are working on senior projects, some are doing make-up work from before.”

Staying in touch

Teachers checked with students on their level of internet access.

“The vast majority have internet access,” Nelson said. “But the connection isn’t always good, especially on the outskirts. Some of them use smart phones and have bad reception. And with more people being online right now, it may make it difficult to download the videos that we’re hoping to be able to use.”

Teachers’ jobs are now focused on continued communication with students.

“The staff is glued to email; they’re expecting communication on assignments,” Nelson said.

Nelson said students can make sure their friends are in the loop regarding school work. “I hope that’s one of their priority conversations.”

Nelson noted that the closure will hit seniors hard.

“I feel bad for the seniors. It’s their last year for prom, there’s normally a class trip…. Our message to people is to stay connected as much as possible, even if that’s not physically connected.”

Drop-off locations announced

The district announced its food delivery plans on March 17, saying that breakfast and lunch opportunities will begin on March 18.

Food for both breakfast and lunch will be made available to all families where any child up to age 18 reside, regardless of financial status. In order for meals to be distributed, the district said that children must be visible to the delivery person.

“In other words, a parent alone cannot come and collect the breakfast and lunch for all children in the household,” Nelson said in the news release.

Meals must be ordered by phone prior to 9 a.m. the day of the delivery by calling either 360-484-7121 or 360-777-7127. Food will be a sack lunch variety consisting of items such as cereal, milk, juice, sandwich, muffin or crackers.

Food delivery is estimated to arrive at each of the following destinations at the following times:

• Assembly of God Church, 11:05 a.m.
• Rosburg Store, 11:15 a.m.
• Bay Center Boat Launch, 11:20 a.m.
• Chinook Coffee Shop, 11:20 a.m.