Updates: from The Seattle Times , it appears that Franklin High School was also closed yesterday due to COVID and staffing issues. As well, Also on Monday, Lake Washington High School in Kirkland shifted back to remote learning temporarily, according to a statement on the school’s website . The shift was due to COVID-related staffing shortages, other illnesses, and absences. On Monday and Tuesday, Lake Washington students will be learning independently from home (asynchronous learning) while staff plan to make the switch to live online learning with a teacher (synchronous learning). On Jan. 19, students will return to in-person learning. Last week, state schools superintendent Chris Reykdal warned that some local school districts may need to close temporarily over the next three to four weeks. While state-mandated preventive measures make schools among the safer public spaces, a lack of staff may force a district or individual school building to shut down, he said. And here's the
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It's not necessarily related, but there is the tragic story of the nine-year old autistic boy who was killed a couple of days ago crossing Highway 99. The sheriff is quoted in today's paper as saying they had been to the house numerous times, that the boy was evidently "hard to control"...One wonders what support there was for this child, and whether the closure of the Viewlands program helped or hindered the cause of autistic children generally. As I said, I respectfully acknowledge that I don't know the details of the recent tragedy, and respect that the family is grieving...I wouldn't want to make "political" hay over this, but only suggest that it might point an intrepid reported towards an important (for better or for worse) story about how children with these sorts of needs are supported by their schools.