What Nampa school board just decided about classes, sports as pandemic hurts staffing

The Nampa School District will transition to full remote learning after the holiday until mid-January.

The Nampa School Board voted unanimously Tuesday to go fully remote after the Thanksgiving break at least until Jan. 13.

Youth sports and extracurricular activities will be postponed after this weekend at least until Dec. 16, three weeks from now.

In a letter to parents, Superintendent Paula Kellerer said the board acted on the recommendation of the district’s Stay Open Committee.

“Their conclusion was that the virus’s effect on infrastructure was a larger factor than student case count on the district’s ability to effectively continue in-person instruction,” Kellerer wrote. “They determined that the district’s ability to continue in the hybrid model was severely compromised when 15% or more of staff was absent, and when five or more buildings were moved to remote status over a week’s time. Substitute teacher and bus driver availability also was considered.

“Based on this recommendation, the Board of Trustees met today and decided to move all NSD schools to fully remote learning through at least January 13, 2021. Students will return virtually from the Christmas break on January 5, and our plan is to consider the possibility of returning to hybrid instruction on Jan. 14. The Board of Trustees will convene in early January to consider next steps.”

Trustees stressed that student grades still matter and this transition is not simply a repeat of the earlier remote stints.

Five schools in the district announced last week that they planned to go entirely online until after Thanksgiving break. Endeavor Elementary, Gateways School, Lone Star Middle School, Snake River Elementary, and Central Elementary School all went to the fully remote model last Thursday.

Statesman Business Editor David Staats contributed.

This story was originally published November 25, 2020 at 10:42 AM.