Dear PSD Families,

Peninsula School District will begin bringing students in kindergarten and first grade back to school on Monday, September 28 for in-person instruction, as previously communicated. Remote learning will continue to take place for those families choosing to opt out of in-person learning. 

Clarified Guidance from L & I for Schools
School districts received clarified guidance this week from the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries. It includes the statement, “In most cases, where social distancing is possible cloth face masks provide the necessary protection in classroom settings.”

The guidance further clarifies that certain job classifications of school-based staff members must wear a higher level of personal protective masks, in high risk settings, than previously planned and communicated. 

We have reviewed this guidance and have confirmed today that we have the required equipment on-hand and staffing necessary for K-1 in-person instruction. We will, however, need to adjust our plans to bring back students in our special education programs.

Training Staff and Fitting of N95 Masks
Some staff members, due to their roles and high risk settings, must be trained and fitted with N95 masks. The process required to ensure staff members wear an N95 safely and properly requires a confidential health review, which includes a training session and individual mask fitting by a licensed professional. Peninsula School District has already contracted with a training and fitting vendor and has begun the training process. Staff will continue to be trained as more students return for in-person learning.

Special Education Update
Students in special education programs (Options, TRAC, ET&T, CTP) who were planning to attend classes more frequently starting Monday, September 28 will instead do remote learning Monday, September 28 through Wednesday, September 30. This delay will allow time to make sure our staff is fully equipped with PPE as prescribed by state guidance. Students in Options, TRAC, ET&T, and CTP will start full in-person learning on Thursday, October 1 unless families selected remote learning. Developmental Preschool and District ECEAP Preschool programs will start in-person learning as previously planned on Wednesday, September 30. 

K-1 Student Bus Routes
Bus routes for K-1 students can be found on PSD’s Transportation Department website. Routes will be updated throughout the weekend, so please check back before Monday morning for updates.  

Updates
As we begin to welcome students back into our buildings in the constantly changing health landscape, we will continue to keep our employees, families and community informed about updates to health and safety guidelines. 

If you have any questions about health and safety protocols at your child’s school, please contact your building’s COVID-19 Building Site Safety Coordinator.

We look forward to welcoming back our K-1 students on Monday!