Oregon’s second-largest high school temporarily suspends face-to-face classes due to community outreach of COVID-19 that requires a large number of students in quarantine at home, school officials said in an announcement on Wednesday night.
Reynolds High School will have no classes for the rest of the week and will return to distance learning Sept. 20-24, according to an announcement on the school’s website.
Students will miss at least seven days of face-to-face learning, and classes at the Troutdale campus are expected to resume on Sept. 27.
The school enrolled more than 2,600 students during the last school year and serves one of the most diverse communities in the state, spanning parts of eastern Portland, Gresham, Fairview, Wood Village and Troutdale. The closure is by far the largest in Oregon and comes just weeks after districts began welcoming students for a new school year amid the ongoing pandemic.
Reynolds officials said the number of students or staff who have tested positive for COVID-19 is small, but “these cases have required a large number of students to be quarantined due to possible exposure to last days “. Currently, the district requires students to be quarantined after exposure to COVID-19 regardless of vaccination status.
“Because more students have to quarantine and learn from home while other students learn in the classroom, teachers cannot provide education in face-to-face and virtual environments at the same time,” the ad said, explaining why the district chose to move entirely to online learning.
It is unclear how many cases have been identified by officials at Reynolds High School and how many students or staff have been warned to quarantine. The district’s online control panel is obsolete, as it shows no cases or quarantine tied to the institute, nor three cases and 136 people in quarantine through Sept. 6.
Meanwhile, the institute is asking families to voluntarily provide vaccination status to their students. It may not be necessary for fully vaccinated students to be quarantined after exposure to COVID-19 in the future, according to the announcement.
Reinforced seat tables for classrooms and buses will also be implemented for more accurate contact tracking and spectators at sporting events will not be allowed until further notice, according to the announcement.
Gladstone Elementary School in Clackamas County will also be temporarily closed for the next week and a half, officials said Wednesday. Other schools, including Duniway Elementary Schools in Portland and Hallinan Elementary on Lake Oswego, have seen significant chunks of their students quarantined after COVID-19 exhibits on school buses.
– Jaimie Ding
[email protected]; 503-221-4395; @j_dingdingding