FAQs

We are focused on keeping all employees - especially our classified employees - with us and supporting our students. This may mean there will be some flexibility in roles and specific work responsibilities - agreed in partnership with Teamsters - in our distance learning and hybrid models. 

We recognize that access to our school spaces is important to ensure you have the tools and resources necessary to effectively support our students. You will be required to follow public health guidelines (masks and 6-foot distancing.)  

Before entering a building all employees must submit a health status attestation found on the dropdown beneath the Staff tab on our website. Itinerant staff have the option of clicking on multiple sites for each day in the attestation.

Our HR Department is always available to answer any questions regarding your specific circumstance and needs. We will work closely with you and your supervisor to determine alternative work assignments rather than leave, whenever possible. You will find information about leave options, including a description, availability, duration and compensation, on Staff Hub. Contact Laura Castaneda at laura.casteneda@highlineschools.org; or 206/631-3125 with specific questions.

We are working with labor partners on various scenarios (e.g. an employee is sick; an employee does not feel comfortable returning to work) so our employees get the information and support they need to make the best decision for themselves. In addition, the district is closely monitoring leave options legally available and determined at the state and federal level.

We cannot predict when we will transition to hybrid. The timing of our transition will be based on state guidance, local public health guidance, local transmission rates, and staff availability to report to in-person work. We will be monitoring these core components and will communicate with staff about a possible transition into a hybrid model in advance. 

If at all possible we will try to connect the transition to hybrid with a natural break or transition in the school calendar. We have a strong interest in providing as much notice to employees as possible.

Highline  is not in a position to provide childcare for staff; however, we must be part of the solution in supporting our staff and families with childcare needs. 

Puget Sound ESD is working with the Washington Department of Children, Youth & Families and will identify child care providers, capacity at these providers, and opportunities for increased partnership. 

In addition, we will continue to collaborate with local community organizations and child care providers with a recognition that they are our critical partners in educating our children.

We are keeping a close eye on potential impacts along with our labor partners as we determine the details of distance learning and the hybrid model. We are constantly analyzing workload impacts, and we are working in collaboration with the union as needed. We anticipate work to be different, but the workload should not increase significantly. Our goal is that employees feel competent and capable in the distance learning context.

TLL, DoTS, and our Academics, Distance Learning and Whole Child workgroups are preparing a series of trainings in alignment to our instructional plan for distance learning 2.0 and an eventual transition into a hybrid model. We are connecting with staff to work out the details for unique roles such as counselors and ESAs.

There will be ongoing communication and sharing of resources throughout August and during our  professional learning days on Sept 3, 4, and 8. 

Students in all grades will have their own digital device so all students can access their class lessons and activities. 

The teacher day begins and concludes 30 minutes before and after the student day.  

• Elementary work day is 8:45-4:15 with a 30 minute duty free lunch.  
• Secondary work day is 8:00-3:30 with a 30 minute duty free lunch. 

Students will be graded at the quarter. 

For elementary, we will identify essential standards for each grade level PK-5 based on the recommendations of Achieve the Core. For each grading period (November, March and June) teachers will provide comments/feedback related to identified standards. This will give families more information than a number or rating and will be better suited to account for any continued differences in access/attendance. After school begins, we will provide examples of comments for elementary report cards that are aligned to Standards Based Grading. 

For secondary, we will identify essential standards. Students who have demonstrated some mastery of standards but not enough to earn an A, B, or C will get an In-Progress (IP) grade and will have more time and support to earn a C or higher. The length of time the student has to convert the IP grade to an A, B, or C--or default to an No Credit (NC)--is currently under review. At the end of each quarter, 0.5 credit will be awarded for each completed class (1.5 credits for three classes.)

We will need to work together to  identify barriers. No one mode of instruction is going to meet the needs of all families and we need to ensure we do not plan for synchronous instruction to be the only mode.  Here are some possibilities:

• Support families in accessing Zoom via phone. (It doesn't have to be via wifi.)
• Ensure synchronous instruction is recorded (record using Zoom or utilize Screencastify) so students and families can access when they are able.
• Provide other non-digital resources for families to meet the goals and learning in service of the essential standards.

For everyone’s safety, we advise meetings to be held via Zoom or phone. If your team has determined a home visit is necessary (i.e., inability to get in touch with the parent), please connect with your school social worker.

All students should begin live (synchronous) learning with an Highline employee. If a breakout room is required, the staff member should stay on the Zoom call as the host. Learn how to do this on the Canvas training module.

The purpose of Family Connections meetings is to begin an ongoing relationship between the student’s family and their teacher. We will provide a document with strategies and scripts teachers can  use as a guide.

Schools may swap one afternoon of work time in order to hold evening family meetings. Staff may be excused early on one waiver day in exchange for conducting evening family meetings on another waiver day.

At your Family Connection meeting on September 3, 4 or 8, determine a plan with each family for on-going communications/check ins.

The goal is to know our students by name, strength and need and for each student to have at least one trusted adult at their school. We will assign an adult to each child to check in with them regularly. Schools should contact families by phone, text or email giving the name of their child’s assigned adult and sharing that this person will be reaching out to them weekly.

The adult can be any Highline  employee. Ensure that the adult is equipped to respond to a student appropriately, knows where to go for support, and understands confidentiality and mandated reporting procedures.

We will provide a document with strategies and suggested scripts to be used as a guide. 

GoGuardian for Teachers is a tool to monitor and support students. Teachers can view screens and activity and manage web page viewing by allowing or blocking web pages. This enables you to keep students on-task with a click from your computer.  For more information on GoGuardian and how to use it, check out this Teacher Training portal or sign up to a Back-to-school Webinar.

The purpose of the Family Connection meetings are to begin an ongoing relationship between each student’s family and their teacher. There will be one meeting for the family of each student on September 3, 4 or 8.  The student may also attend. At the meeting, the teacher and family should determine a plan for ongoing communication.

In addition to the Family Connection meetings, students will be assigned a Highline staff member who will routinely check in with them and know them by name, strength and need. These 1:1 student connection meetings  are a separate strategy from the Family Connection meetings. More information will be coming out in early September.

Substitute teachers will be available for daily absences. While we would discourage an ill teacher from attending work in person, an employee may feel well enough to perform some job responsibilities while in a remote environment. Employees who need to work a partial day should report hours not worked as leave. 

HR is available to assist in the recording of time and to determine if a substitute teacher is needed for the balance of the day. For the sake of individuals’ health and well-being, HR encourages employees to utilize sick leave and request substitutes if illness prevents them from working at least 3.5 consecutive hours.

When students will be 1:1 with a staff member over Zoom or another platform, the staff member must receive parent/guardian permission in advance. Read more information on Zoom expectations and guidelines here. 

1. Notify families about when these will be scheduled. 
2. Permission can be verbal or in writing. It should be logged in Synergy.  
3. If this is a reccuring 1:1 session. Permission for the first instance will suffice and should be documented by the staff member. 

We recommend using 30 minutes for synchronous instruction. This might be a 30-minute class meeting and lesson, or could be broken up into a 15 minute launch and a 15 minute share at the end. 

The remaining 55 minutes is asynchronous. This should not be interpreted as simply assigning students 55 minutes of independent work.  During this 55 minutes, the teacher should be actively engaged with students, for example participating in small groups

Students should be engaged in the course for all 85 minutes, regularly participating in small groups, accessing recordings as needed when unable to attend live, and extending work into the 60 minute asynchronous period at the end of the day.

Our plan is for pre-K and kindergarten students to attend four days a week (M, T, TH, F). We are calculating whether we have space and staff for four days a week with our students with special needs.

Buildings will be closed on Wednesdays and Saturdays for cleaning and sanitizing.  After wiping all high-touch surfaces, we will follow up with an electrostatic machine which sprays disinfectant into the air and sticks to all surfaces in the room.  The rooms are then closed to allow contact time for the disinfectant to adhere and work. 

This hybrid model is new for everyone, and we need to give our teachers a day for collaboration and distance learning development. We also need a full day on Wednesday to thoroughly clean our buildings to curb the spread of the virus.

The Washington Department of Health has stated that masks or face shields are required for students, staff, and any other visitors to the schools.  There are certain exceptions for those who are medically unable to wear a mask.  If a student refuses to wear a mask we will work with the student and family to educate about the requirement and the importance of face coverings in reducing the spread of the virus.  As a last resort we may have to exclude a student from school.  In that case we would ensure that the student has an opportunity to continue receiving their instruction remotely.

The guidelines from the state schools superintendent (OSPI) are to maintain 6-foot distance “as much as possible.” Desks will be spaced six feet apart and interactions closer than six feet will be limited. The guidelines state that passing briefly in a hallway, especially when everyone is wearing a mask, is low-risk.

The state schools superintendent has acknowledged that it is not practical to screen every student and staff member before entering the school building. We will depend on families to attest that their student does not have a fever or COVID symptoms.

Having students attend on consecutive days allows us to clean thoroughly between cohorts to reduce exposure to the virus.

Elementary students will eat breakfast and lunch in their classrooms; middle and high school meal service is still being determined. Students will not be allowed to leave campus during lunch to reduce exposure to the virus. We will continue distributing meals to students on days when they are not in school.

Registration for fall athletics is open through August 15.  When King County enters Phase III, many of our sports teams may begin summer workouts, primarily outdoors with safety  protocols in place.

State guidelines state that choir, band and some PE activities may not be safe and will need to be offered in a different way. We are awaiting further guidance.

We will distribute digital devices and hotspots to students who need them.

Secondary students will be expected to carry their device to and from school.

We are currently drafting and reviewing a plan to have preschool students attend school four days a week. We do not anticipate offering a virtual academy for preschool students at this time.