Education Stories

The pandemic has forced us to change a lot of things in our lives. Now, as more and more people get vaccinated, it doesn’t feel crazy to think about when life can return to normal.

The past year has been tough, and we've all had to find ways to try to stay happy and sane.

As the Seattle school district delays the date for bringing preschoolers and some students with disabilities back to classrooms to the end of this month, 40 miles to the south in Pierce County, seventh- and eighth-graders at Keithley Middle School in Parkland headed back to campus this week. They returned to classrooms for the first time in almost a year, following the return of sixth-graders last week.

The pandemic has been an isolating experience for many of us. It’s even harder if you’re trying to start out in a new place and build a social circle. That’s what 13-year-old Nascha Martinez faced when she moved here from Breckenridge, Colo., and began attending a brand-new school, West Sound Academy in Poulsbo, during a time of remote learning. She shared her story for KNKX’s Take the Mic youth voices project .

In South King County, the Highline school board has voted to authorize possible legal action against its teachers union. It’s another example of escalating tensions around the region over the resumption of in-person instruction.

On a recent day under a light drizzle, Alyssa Andrews and Anna Hester stood in a school parking lot in unincorporated Pierce County, going over their plans to visit families of middle-school students who haven’t been logging on to remote classes.

Some districts in the Puget Sound region say they will not be expanding in-person learning to all students this school year. That includes the Edmonds and Lake Washington districts.

Kamari Johnson is 11 years old. She’s trying to make the best of remote school, including keeping up with orchestra class, which means playing violin at home by herself. She remembers what it was like to play music together with other students as an ensemble, back in fifth grade, back before the coronavirus.

It can be difficult for anyone who’s been incarcerated to readjust to life after getting out. A bill working its way through the Legislature would allow some young people in juvenile rehabilitation to serve part of their sentences in the community with the aim of facilitating a better transition.

Public school enrollment is down almost 4 percent statewide compared with last year. Many families decided not to enroll their kindergartners because of remote learning, and others have switched to private schools or home schooling. Because state education funding is calculated based on the number of students, many districts are now facing budget deficits. State lawmakers are considering a bill to send more money to school districts that have seen a drop in enrollment during the pandemic .

School district leaders, the statewide teachers union and other groups are urging lawmakers to address housing affordability for school employees. Right now, state law allows school districts with fewer than 2,000 students to build teacher cottages and other employee housing. Sen. Jesse Salomon, a Democrat whose district includes Shoreline, Edmonds and northwest Seattle, has sponsored a bill that would expand that to all school districts . It advanced out of the Senate Committee on Early Learning and K-12 Education on Wednesday.

In an already very weird year, high school football in Tacoma is now set to begin less than a week before the Super Bowl – in February. Fall sports that were delayed for months due to the pandemic have now been given the go-ahead to begin, with safety measures such as face masks. Those sports include volleyball, cross country, girls soccer, girls swim and golf, in addition to football.

Acknowledging the degree to which education has been disrupted during the pandemic, state lawmakers are discussing ways to help students catch up academically.

Most students around the Puget Sound region have been learning remotely since last March. But in addition to needing access to the internet and a computer, they’ve also had to figure out how to make a learning space at home. The South Seattle community group WA-BLOC has been trying to help meet students’ needs. The group has been handing out portable desks to students who are working from home with limited space and a lot of online classes.

Amid a dispute over the Bellevue School District’s expansion of in-person learning to young students, the district asked a King County Superior Court commissioner to issue a temporary injunction against its educators union to force them to resume both in-person and live online instruction.

UPDATE, 4:12 pm : Adds information about the Sedro-Woolley School District. Bellevue Superintendent Ivan Duran says the district will continue with its plan to welcome about 770 second-graders back for in-person learning on Thursday, even though teachers may not show up.

Roll out of bed, turn on your laptop, wander to the kitchen to get food during class – online school during a pandemic is pretty different from regular school. And while some districts are in the process of bringing the youngest kids back to classrooms, the majority of older students will continue learning from home for the time being.

Eighth-graders in Seattle and South King County trying to figure out where to go to high school will have a new option to consider. A regional high school focused on marine science and maritime careers will open in the Highline school district in the fall.

UPDATE, Jan. 6: Adds comments from a kindergartner, her mom and school principal. Seeing your teacher, meeting your classmates, getting used to having your own desk and cubby – these are the exciting (and perhaps terrifying) rites of passage for kindergartners that normally happen in September. On Mercer Island, these rites of passage are instead happening now. The coronavirus pandemic is to blame for the delay.

The frustration among families over remote learning has built up over months. Now some districts, including Mercer Island, Bellevue and Tacoma, are taking steps to bring the youngest students back for in-person school this month.

The risk of catching the coronavirus is lower outside than inside, and for that reason, a lot of people were hoping that public schools could mitigate risk by shifting instruction to the great outdoors. In Seattle, despite a push in the summer to make that happen, pilot programs are still not up and running. But in Whatcom County, dozens of kids in three school districts have been learning outside for months.

Amid increasing pressure from parents to have schools offer more face-to-face instruction, Gov. Jay Inslee has released updated recommendations to school districts to encourage them to do that.

How do you build school spirit when students are learning from home? That’s been on the mind of 16-year-old Isaac Velazquez, a junior at Franklin Pierce High School in the Midland area of unincorporated Pierce County.

More than half of the state’s public school students are in districts offering almost exclusively remote learning , but state Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal acknowledged to state lawmakers on Monday that distance learning is not working for a lot of kids.

Demand for food assistance has surged this year as many people have lost their jobs. The Schultz Family Foundation, which was started by former Starbucks Chief Executive Howard Schultz and his wife, Sheri, has created something called the Washington COVID Response Corps to employ young people to work on addressing food insecurity.

A new illustrated children's book by a local author called " Panda Demick " highlights how the pandemic has, in some ways, been beneficial for Planet Earth.

Being a teacher right now is not easy. Ryan Davenport had to buy a new Ikea chair because teaching online means sitting around a lot, and that makes his neck hurt. During a regular school year, he’s usually on his feet much of the day, moving around. Ryan teaches social studies to seventh-graders in the Franklin Pierce School District in Parkland. But even more than that discomfort, this school year of disruption means Ryan has a harder time making the connections with his students that normally bring him joy. KNKX is following one of his classes this year to illustrate what school is like in the middle of a pandemic.

For 14-year-old Sebastian Bush, time at home during the pandemic has had a certain smell: the scent of traditional Colombian cornmeal cakes known as arepas frying, and beef, rice and potato-filled, crescent-shaped pastries known as empanadas sizzling in oil. It’s also had a certain sound: the sound of chatting with his grandmother, Elsa Forero, as they prepare the food of her childhood in Bogotá .

Students who need help with their homework have options for free online tutoring through public libraries, including a new service from Seattle Public Library .

Most students in the state are still doing school remotely because of the pandemic. Some parents who are frustrated with distance learning are criticizing a move by the State Board of Education to allow the status quo to continue. This summer, the state board passed emergency rules to allow schools to provide Zoom classes or other remote instruction in the pandemic. Now the board has adopted new emergency rules to continue that, with a plan to propose permanent rules and hold a public hearing in early January.

It’s been eight weeks since the school year began, and Seattle Public Schools has just started offering in-person services for students in special education. One student started this week and the district plans to expand that to 65 children.

The Nov. 3 election in Washington includes a referendum on a hot-button issue — whether the state should require sex education to be taught in public schools. KNKX youth and education reporter Ashley Gross spoke with KNKX Morning Edition host Kirsten Kendrick about Referendum 90 and what opponents and supporters have to say.

UPDATE, 6 p.m.: Adds comments from a press conference held by Maia Espinoza in which she addressed how she'd pay for stipends to families during remote learning. The race for state superintendent of public instruction comes at a critical time for the state’s 1.1 million schoolchildren, most of whom are learning from home right now due to the pandemic. The incumbent, Chris Reykdal, and his challenger, Maia Espinoza, have different approaches to pandemic-era schooling.

UPDATE, Oct. 29: Adds comments from a press conference with Superintendent Denise Juneau. The Seattle-King County and Washington state NAACP say the Seattle school board should terminate Superintendent Denise Juneau’s contract, maintaining that she has not done enough to address systemic racism in the school district.

Voters in the Highline school district south of Seattle will be deciding whether to approve a two-year levy to pay for new computers and other technology. The shift to remote learning in the pandemic has highlighted the need. The levy would collect a total of $32.5 million over two years. But the property tax rate would go down a little bit even if voters approve the measure. That’s because some general obligation bonds the district refinanced last year will be paid off next year and the district’s operations levy rate is set to decline a bit from this year to next.

“I went into high school the same year that Donald Trump was elected president, so it kind of bookended my high school experience.” Alicia Ing graduated from Renton High School as part of the class of 2020 and is studying at the University of Washington. Now, four years after that election, Alicia is 18 years old and getting ready to vote in her first presidential election.

On a recent sunny fall morning, a school bus pulled up in front of Blue Heron Middle School in Port Townsend. A few kids got off, but before they could enter the school, they had to go through a new pandemic-era procedure.

John Monroe grew up in Everett and landed a job as a draftsman with the Boeing Co. in 1965, with just a high school diploma and a nine-week drafting course under his belt.

A student-led push to get solar panels installed at a middle school in Tacoma is receiving national recognition from a clean energy nonprofit called Generation 180. And while the girls involved have now moved on to high school, they’re continuing to advocate and fundraise for the project.

Imagine you could step into a time machine and travel back to a year ago. What would you tell yourself now that you’ve experienced life in a pandemic? Seventeen-year-old Barrett Stowe, who attends Tacoma School of the Arts, asked two friends and his sister that question. It turns out the upheaval of the past six months has led to some realizations about what’s important to them in life. Barrett produced his own radio story, with guidance from KNKX staff, as part of our Take the Mic youth voices project.

As families adjust to distance learning, what’s the experience like for a parent? A teenager? A third grader? Caliya Bullock, 16, decided to find out. She’s a junior at Mount Rainier High School in Des Moines. As part of our Take the Mic youth voices project, Caliya reported and produced her own radio story. She interviewed her cousins, Kaiden, Kyle Jr., Nevaeh and Makiyah. Kaiden and Kyle attend Covington Elementary School and Nevaeh and Makiyah attend Kentwood High School.

At schools around the region, a new ritual has been taking place. It’s the back-to-school, COVID-era laptop distribution, as almost all public schools in the state have begun the year with remote learning.

Canceled proms. Virtual graduations. Eighteen-year-olds have been through a lot this year. Now many are starting what’s likely to be a pretty bizarre year of college.

As school kicks off remotely in much of the Puget Sound region, one big question is what kind of in-person services will be offered to students with special needs. It’s a pressing topic for many parents, especially if their children require a full-time instructional aide.

The protests in the wake of the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis have sparked a surge of activism among high school students around issues of racial justice. Students in Seattle, Tacoma, Bellevue and other districts in the Puget Sound region have pushed for police officers to be removed from schools. Now, a new student group in the Highline district, south of Seattle, wants youth to have a say in hiring educators.

Only a handful of school districts in the state are aiming to hold school in person this fall. One of them is Kittitas School District in Central Washington, near Ellensburg.

The Edmonds School District has issued layoff notices to 175 bus drivers, and other districts are warning that they may have to do the same thing.

Parents in Western Washington – and in many parts of the country – are facing a school year like no other. Most districts here will begin with no in-person instruction, and for parents or guardians who work outside the home, that means a scramble to find some kind of child care. And many will have to dig into their pockets to pay for care during the seven hours or so when children normally attend school.

UPDATE, 1:15 pm: Adds response from the State Board of Education. A handful of parents are taking the state to court, arguing that students are being shortchanged a basic education during the pandemic. The parents, who live in Tacoma, Normandy Park and Olympia and all have children with special needs, have filed a petition for judicial review in Thurston County Superior Court against the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and the State Board of Education.

The Federal Way school district is getting some assistance from a local crowdfunding platform to buy 5,000 laptops for students. It’s an example of the many ways school districts are trying to make sure children have what they need for remote learning.

In a 3-2 vote, the Kent School Board has voted to extend the contract for Superintendent Calvin Watts, a move that comes amid some community controversy.