In the topsy-turvy world created by the global pandemic, it鈥檚 suddenly football season for Oregon high schools 鈥� at least for some of them. Football season was canceled last fall, and the Oregon School Activities Association worked with school administrators to move the season to late winter. But actual kickoffs and touchdowns involving Portland-area high schools will depend on what鈥檚 going on inside those school buildings.
Gov. Kate Brown has been pressing schools for some time to open for in-person learning, and by the most recent count, more than 116,000 Oregon school children are back in classrooms, at least part of the time. In recent weeks, Brown has moved to get vaccinated against COVID-19, and she to make it easier for schools to meet the county-level health metrics.
But many schools remain closed, even to (LIPI), which is viewed as an important step toward more extensive learning inside classrooms.
On Wednesday, , by allowing full-contact sports outdoors 鈥� including football 鈥� but only for schools doing some level of in-person learning. But it鈥檚 not clear that Brown鈥檚 pressure is having much effect.
For some high schools, Brown鈥檚 quid pro quo was not much of an issue. Both public high schools in Lake Oswego and all three high schools in Hillsboro were already offering LIPI before the Governor鈥檚 Wednesday announcement, according to a database kept by the Oregon Department of Education. A number of high schools outside the Portland area have been offering more extensive in-person instruction 鈥� recently had to go back to distance learning, after discovering multiple cases of COVID-19.
Other school districts with no in-person instruction in the high schools said they were preparing to start that in the coming weeks, before the governor鈥檚 announcement. For instance, several high schools in the Beaverton School District have been instructing students entirely through distance learning 鈥� including Beaverton, Mountainside and Westview. But district officials say that鈥檚 changing.
鈥淎s we鈥檝e previously announced, all our comprehensive high schools will be doing LIPI as of February 22,鈥� said Beaverton School District public communications officer Shellie Bailey-Shah in an email to OPB.
鈥淎nd football practice will start on February 22.鈥�
But previous messaging from Beaverton appears more tentative than that. told the community that administrators were 鈥渃onsidering offering limited in-person instruction鈥� (italics in original), with few specifics. Three weeks later, said, 鈥淟imited-In Person Instruction (LIPI) is scheduled to tentatively begin on February 22鈥� at 29 of the district鈥檚 more than 50 schools. But that message didn鈥檛 specify which schools, and said that LIPI 鈥渕ay鈥� occur at middle and high schools.
Officials in Oregon City also said they will start offering limited in-person instruction to high school students, and like Beaverton, said the decision came before the governor鈥檚 announcement.
鈥淲e are beginning LIPI for middle school and high school students on February 16,鈥� said Oregon City schools spokesperson Lisa Normand.
鈥淥ur plan for starting LIPI across the district was already in place prior to the Governor鈥檚 announcement.鈥�
According to a ummary, Oregon City was working on its plans last month, but they were still being finalized. That summary said that the district discussed with school board members a 鈥減roposed schedule鈥� on Jan. 25 that included among its priorities, to 鈥淸b]egin expanding Limited In-person Instruction (LIPI) for identified K-12 students on Feb. 8.鈥�
At least one Portland-area school district is not planning to offer in-person instruction at its high schools, even if it means not playing football games. The North Clackamas School District is in comprehensive distance learning, without any in-person courses.
鈥淸A]t this time, there is not a plan to initiate LIPI at high schools solely to facilitate sports,鈥� said Jonathan Hutchinson, communications director at North Clackamas.
鈥淲hen LIPI is initiated within NCSD, it will occur across all levels,鈥� Hutchinson said, suggesting that limited in-person offerings would be 鈥渓inked鈥� to when a more extensive hybrid instructional approach might roll out to certain elementary grades.
Other districts appear to have made similar decisions, such as David Douglas, where the high school is not offering in-person instruction and doesn鈥檛 intend to change that decision before late March.
According to ODE鈥檚 latest information, several high schools in Oregon鈥檚 largest school district, Portland Public Schools, were not offering limited in-person instruction, including Benson, Cleveland, 老夫子传媒 and Lincoln. OPB鈥檚 messages requesting comment to PPS were not returned in time for this story.
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