Issaquah Students Head Back To School This Week

ISSAQUAH, WA — Tuesday marks a return to the classroom for many students around Issaquah, as the first day of school arrives for all grades but kindergarten. The youngest students in the district return to class Friday. Several neighboring districts, including Lake Washington, begin their returns on Wednesday.

Issaquah School District - 2021 Key Dates:

• Aug. 31: First day of school (Grades 1 -12)
• Sept. 3: First day of Kindergarten
• Sept. 6: Labor Day (no school)
• Oct. 18: Teacher Work Day (no school)
• Nov. 11: Veterans Day (no school)
• Nov. 25 - 26: Thanksgiving break
• Dec. 1 & 2: Elementary conferences
• Dec. 20 - 21: 1st Winter Break
• Jan. 17, 2021: MLK, Jr. Day (no school)
• Jan. 28: Teacher Work Day
• Feb. 21: Presidents Day
• Feb. 22 - 25 (2nd Winter Break)
• March 18: Weather make-up day OR no school
• April 11 - 15: Spring Break
• May 30: Memorial Day (no school)
• June 17: Last day of school

This year, the Issaquah School District is planning on 100 percent in-person instruction, using layered health and safety precautions to limit the spread of COVID-19. While the district currently has no plans to return to remote-learning or hybrid models, that could change depending on the unpredictable trajectory of the pandemic.

The district writes:

"We remain steadfast in our goal and desire and direction from the ISD School Board, Governor of Washington State, Superintendent of Public Instruction OSPI, Washington State Department of Health, Seattle King County DOH, Center for Disease Control and President of the United States to open our schools full-time to in-person learning for all students. With that consideration, and based on feedback regarding in-person versus remote learning for the 2021-2022 school year, the district has chosen to use our limited staff and financial resources to focus solely on in-person schooling. Operating in-person with the addition of COVID mitigation personnel takes additional resources, and if we were to divert or divide those resources to offer multiple learning models that could diminish our ability to offer the robust in-person experience desired. It may also result in a less than adequate fully remote program."

Here are a few of the mitigation measures families can expect:

• COVID notification: if one student in an elementary class gets COVID-19, we will notify the entire class and let the family know if the student was a close contact.
• Layered mitigation: utilizing multiple mitigation strategies together has shown to be the most effective way to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The layers we are utilizing as a District include vaccines, masks, physical distancing, improved ventilation, handwashing, cleaning and disinfecting, staying home when sick, testing, and contact tracing in combination with quarantining.
• Back-up plans: while our efforts have been focused on the return to in-person learning, we do have back plans in place if we need to transition to remote learning. There is currently not a metric in place by the Department of Health but if they require us to transition there are different plans for closing a classroom, an entire school, or the entire system.

Beyond COVID-19, the district is contending with a few other challenges, including a shortage of school bus drivers and a disruption in the supply chain for school lunches. According to officials, the Issaquah School District has lost nearly three dozen bus drivers since March 2020, condensing the number of routes from 130 to 115. The district identified four areas that have impacted transportation planning:

• Enrollment in the district has declined by 1,500 students.
• School attendance boundaries for grades kindergarten through eighth grade have been redrawn.
• We are about to open two new schools.
• We have made ongoing adjustments to comply with COVID-19 mitigation measures.

"The district has drivers in training classes now and has had positive responses from our recent postcard recruitment push for new drivers," the district wrote last week. "We will be rebalancing load and re-working routes for several weeks after school starts as ridership patterns become more regular."

The district still has openings for bus drivers, which can be found on the online career portal.

For school lunches, while the district still plans to offer free meals to all students, officials warn that nationwide disruptions in the supply chain may limit resources and the variety of meals available. For families who are able, the district asks that they send students to school with lunches when they can.

"If it is possible for your family, please consider sending your student with a lunch from home, to ensure that no one has to go without lunch," officials wrote. "This will allow more time for us and the companies that supply us food to address these issues and adjust plans. We apologize for any inconvenience or difficulty this may cause."

Though school meals are free to all this school year, families in need are encouraged to apply separately for free or reduced-price meals, since they may also qualify for other benefits.

Helpful links for parents in the Issaquah School District

• Find answers to frequently asked questions about the 2021-22 school year.
• Locate your school bus route.
• Learn more about COVID-19 prevention measures and find updated information on confirmed cases by school.