Students Path to Graduation
Yesterday afternoon Governor Kate Brown closed in class instruction for the remainder of the school year. Brown said that with the unsure path ahead due to the coronavirus it does not make sense to try and predict a time when school could safely resume. Seniors that are preparing for graduation will have several different pathways to graduation according to the new rules set forth. School superintendent for Siuslaw School, Andy Grzeskowiak, says that path is dependent on where the student was on March 13th when classes were initially suspended.
“If a student was on track to pass a required class for graduation at the time they’re gonna be awarded a pass grade to give them credit. Now students that were’nt on track they’re going to use this time to do a proficiency project and meet some other requirements to get them to a passing mark to get credit.”
Grzeskowiak says the path ahead will be a conglomeration of different approaches. There will be some online classes offered along with the mailing of some lesson packets. He says the difficulty comes from many rural students not having access to internet. During the remainder of the schools calendar year, teachers will have call hours in the afternoon to assist students that have questions or are having difficulty with the lesson plans. Grzeskowiak says that they are waiting for further information from the state on graduation guidelines.
COVID Case Update
The daily numbers for Covid-19 cases continues to grow, but authorities from the Oregon Health authority are saying this is not indicative of a greater problem, but rather the result of more available tests. It is widely believed that there are more infected people around the state and even in local communities, and those numbers will continue to be reflected in the totals as more testing is done. The most current number available are 1,239 positive cases with 24,564 tests completed. To date, Lane County has only tested 1,034 individuals with 31 confirmed cases. Numbers are generated from the Oregon Health Authority and Lane County Public health once daily.
City Continues to Partner With Business
City Manager Erin Reynolds says that after the initial impact of the coronavirus and the many weeks of chaotic changes across that state and locally, that the city is regrouping and focusing on how to help the business community evolve with the changing economic landscape. Last week the city, in conjunction with several partners including the Florence Area Chamber of commerce and RAIN produced several programs for businesses, and today at 2 pm there will be another one for businesses for which to take advantage.
“We’re doing a round-up rodeo of economic development and business resources that are critically important for our business community and non-profits to know about and hear about in a quick one hour zoom call.”
Reynolds says the city plans to roll out additional resources in the near future to further guide and lead business to an economic recovery once this crisis has passed.
