Local educators welcome state's COVID-19 guidance

Aug. 26—UNION COUNTY — School district officials in Union County are expressing positive feelings about a guidance recently issued by the Oregon Health Authority and the Oregon Department of Education regarding what COVID-19 health and safety protocols they will be required to follow as a new school year opens.

The guidance indicates that some statewide rules are still in effect, including the vaccination requirement for teachers and other staff. But decisions regarding whether to require masks, social distancing and other protocols remain in local hands, just as they did at the end of the 2021-22 school year.

Elgin School District Superintendent Dianne Greif is pleased that school districts will continue to have freedom with regard to COVID-19 protocols.

"I think what we had in place previously worked well," she said.

Greif credits school districts with doing a good job of making individual decisions and choices that helped keep their communities healthy.

New Imbler School District Superintendent Randy Waite supports the state's decision because it allows school districts to address specific issues related to the virus.

"Each district is unique," he said. "This is a step in the right direction."

La Grande School District Superintendent George Mendoza also said he feels good about the state's approach. He noted, though, that school districts still are required by the state to take many steps, including submitting updated communicable disease plans to the state and monitoring COVID-19 levels.

La Grande School District's rules for COVID-19 protocol include not allowing students to come to school if they have COVID-19 symptoms.

"Things are like they were when the school year ended," Mendoza said.

The La Grande School District's policy does not require anyone to wear a mask due to low COVID-19 levels. La Grande High School Principal Brett Baxter is delighted that he does not have to worry about masks at this time.

"That is energizing beyond what I can describe," he said.

Baxter said having to deal with masks and other COVID-19 protocols took a toll on LHS.

"They were taking the life out of our school," he said. "Now we can maximize what we can do."

Cove School District Superintendent Earl Pettit said that in many ways the state's guidance is allowing school districts to return to where they were before the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020. He said the updated communicable disease plan his school district submitted to the state earlier this week was basically the same as the one his school district had before the pandemic began.

Pettit said the plan calls for the school district to take many of the same steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19 as it does other communicable diseases. For example, if a student is sick, he or she is required to stay home.

Union School District Superintendent Carter Wells said the state's announcement essentially indicates things have not changed since the end of the 2021-22 school year. He is glad the state is continuing to give school districts freedom with regard to how they approach COVID-19 protocols. This is putting school districts in a better position to return to a sense of normalcy.

"We are moving in a direction to where we were before COVID-19," Wells said.

North Powder Superintendent Lance Dixon also said he likes the freedom school districts will continue to have to address COVID issues. He said one of the programs his school district will continue to have will be its test-to-stay program. It allows students to stay in school following a close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19 if they test negative.

Dixon is happy he will not have to worry about things like state mandates requiring students to wear masks as the first day of school approaches.

"I'm looking forward to a normal start of the school year," he said.

Dick Mason is a reporter with The Observer. Contact him at {span data-sheets-value="{" data-sheets-userformat="{"}541-624-6016{/span} or dmason@lagrandeobserver.com.