PORT ANGELES – Monday’s announcement from the Governor that schools would remain closed for the rest of the school year came as a shock to some, but Sequim School District Superintendent Bob Clark says he saw it coming.
“When he extended ‘Stay Home, Stay Healthy’ till May 4th, I thought the closing of schools was inevitable. Even though I was hoping against it, I wanted to come back. But I also recognize that we have to do what’s healthy and best for, you know, everyone”.
Clark said the focus now is to do whatever it takes to see that every student gets the best possible education over the next 2 months.
Gov. Inslee said he didn’t think any student’s grades should suffer because of the closure. What did Clark think about that?
“We’re going to try and, you know, come up with a pass/no credit, or even looking at letter grades in some of the core classes. So we haven’t made a final decision. But let’s put it this way, you know, we’re going to err on the side of leniency. We don’t want anyone to lose credit because of what just happened. That being said, if we have students who choose to do nothing, then that might be a different story.”
As for his district’s chances of putting together some kind of a ceremony for seniors this Spring…
“I think the best case scenario for me would be that we push it back a month to July and then have a smaller graduation, i.e. a ticketed event. Not everyone and their dog could come. Probably just parents, immediate family, social distance as much as possible, and have a ceremony. I don’t know that that will be possible but we are going to do everything in our power to honor our seniors.”