Bellevue School District Refuses Demand To Pause In-Person Plans

BELLEVUE, WA — With hundreds of Bellevue second-graders poised to return to the classroom Thursday morning, a standoff continued between the teachers union and district officials over whether existing public health precautions were sufficient to safely reopen schools before vaccines are available for all teachers.

Late Tuesday, the Bellevue Education Associated announced its members had voted overwhelmingly in favor of pausing the expansion of in-person learning until COVID-19 vaccinations are available for all educators.

Under the state's current timeline, teachers and school staff in high-risk groups, ages 50 and older, will be eligible for vaccination in the second tier of Phase 1B, slated to begin in February. However, a larger group of employees will not qualify until at least April. Earlier in the month, legislative leaders called on Gov. Jay Inslee and state health officials to modify the plan to include all school staffers earlier, but such changes have yet to come to fruition.

Tuesday's union vote came with two ultimatums. First, if the district refused to announce a pause Wednesday, that all educators "not currently providing necessary in-person and mental health services will continue providing uninterrupted instruction and job responsibilities through independent asynchronous work through Thursday and Friday." Should the district hold steady beyond Friday, the union said it would hold a special meeting to discuss further action.

"We stand by our commitment to providing in-person services to our students in safe ways that support individual needs," wrote Allison Snow, president of the Bellevue Education Association, in a statement. "Nobody wants to be back in the classroom more than educators, but only when it's safe. We have a vaccine on the horizon and we need to use every protection possible to keep our students, staff, and community safe. It doesn't make sense to return more students and staff to school buildings without taking every measure we can, which includes offering vaccines to educators."

In a note shared with families Wednesday afternoon, the Bellevue School District said it was disappointed in the union vote and pledged to move forward with its in-person learning plans.

"To our eager second graders and families: we will see you in classrooms tomorrow," the district wrote. "We will not pause our long-negotiated plan to return students to classrooms. If educators choose to not show up and teach and fail to meet their professional responsibilities, we will have substitute teachers, administrators and other qualified professionals ready and able to help ease students back in the routine of attending school in person with their classmates."

Bellevue School District's 'Back to Buildings' Timeline:

• 2nd grade: Thursday, Jan. 21
• 1st grade: Monday, Jan. 25
• Kindergarten: Monday, Feb. 1

The Bellevue Education Associated posted a video Wednesday afternoon, sharing some of its members' specific concerns in returning to class under the district's current model.

The district said the union's decision would mean an interruption in remote learning for all grades Thursday and Friday, which officials called "incredibly frustrating." Officials also maintained that safety protocols would be sufficient until vaccines are more widely available.

"We know that vaccines are here, and we are excited about the news that educators might get them earlier than we first expected," the district wrote. "But we should not delay our plan to return K-2 to school between Thursday, Jan.21 and Feb. 1. We have safety protocols in place, and we need to roll out in-person school to these students now."

The letter ended with a plea that educators reconsider the position and return to the classroom.

While official state guidance recommends school districts resume in-person learning in phases as soon as possible, pointing to studies showing a limited increase in risk for younger students when proper measures are in place, local health officials have raised some concerns about the potential effects of more infectious coronavirus strains in the near future.

King County is also experiencing another upswing in case counts in the wake of the winter holidays and is urging everyone to double down on proven public health measures to tamp down on community transmission.

"The thing that's most important in the context of getting students back to school is the level of community COVID-19 transmission that we're seeing," Dr. Jeff Duchin, health officer for King County, said last week. "The higher the level of transmission that we see in the community, the higher risk there is for acquiring COVID-19 anywhere in the community, at work, and anywhere you come into contact with others."

Find answers to some frequently asked questions about the return to classrooms on the Bellevue School District's website.