School ‘as usual’ is unlikely as Washington officials weigh options for next fall amid coronavirus pandemic

Washington education officials are weighing at least seven scenarios for reopening schools next fall and say the status quo — a patchwork of distance learning models crafted by individual school districts — is “not a viable approach.”

The examples of how school could return range from resuming in-person learning as usual, to developing a new model of remote instruction. The “as usual” model is unlikely, state education department documents suggest, without the creation and mass distribution of a vaccine or a drastic change in coronavirus transmission rates.