Lake Washington School District Publishes Update For January 8, 2021

Press release from the Lake Washington School District:

January 8, 2021

Good morning K-5 families, 

"I want to express my gratitude for the swift action that you have taken to make the selection of the learning model that best fits your child’s needs whether that is continuing in a remote model or transitioning to an in-person model. 

One point of clarification that I want to provide as you finalize your selection is the issue of teacher placement in remote or in-person teaching. At this time, I am requesting that you as a family not reach out to your child’s current classroom teacher to ask about their placement moving forward. This puts your child’s teacher in a difficult situation because there are so many variables that will go into where teachers are assigned. Teacher assignment can be driven by CDC guidelines for individuals at increased risk, needs of a school, interests of a teacher, and other variables such as classroom sizes at any individual school. 

We will be working with staff over the coming weeks to make teacher placements. This will be a collaborative process and will be guided by the negotiated Letter of Understanding we will have with the teacher’s union, the Lake Washington Education Association. 

Please know, I completely understand your interest in having continuity for your child. Given the large number of variables related to the upcoming changes we will not be able to guarantee placement with your current teacher even if the teacher/student selections are in the same learning environment." 

Respectfully, 

Dr. Jon Holmen, Superintendent

Lake Washington School District

This press release was produced by the Lake Washington School District. The views expressed are the author's own.