The Idaho State Board of Education held an emergency teleconference March 23 to discuss the response to COVID-19 in regard to K-12 education.
The COVID-19 School Operations Guidance was approved which would have schools begin a soft closure until April 20.
A soft closure as defined by Kurt Liebich, a member of the Idaho State Board of Education, is when students are not allowed at the school while educators and leadership use facilities to provide essential services and distance student learning.
According to the guidance approved at the meeting there are three areas school districts are asked to focus on: develop and implement a continuation of the essential services to their local communities, implement or develop remote learning and develop a plan for delivering special education services.
“So over the next few weeks, the board’s going to consult with public health officials, this emergency council to develop criteria used to help guide these extended closure plans, and also look at, potentially reopening decisions which clearly is premature, but it’s important to start thinking along that way that feedback we’ve received from a lot of districts and charters around the state,” Greg Wilson, Gov. Brad Little’s education advisor said.
The state board is going to be scheduling regular meetings to discuss COVID-19 and the impacts it will have on schools.
The state board waived the college entrance exam for seniors who would have taken it during the 2020 school year and senior projects for students graduating at the end of the 2019- 2020 school year.
The board also included an exemption for juniors in the 2019-2020 school year which removes the college entrance exam from their graduation requirements as well.
Kali Nelson can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @kalinelson6