Staffing Shortages Impact Some Puget Sound School Districts

KIRKLAND, WA — Increasing staffing shortages impacted schools on both sides of Lake Washington Monday, as Puget Sound school districts contend with a growing number of absences due to COVID-19 quarantines, infections and other factors.

The Lake Washington School District announced Kirkland's Lake Washington High School would shift to a remote learning model for at least a week due to an untenable level of unplanned absences.

"To be clear, this is not a case where the health department is dictating a closure due to an on-campus outbreak," the district's superintendent wrote Monday. "This decision is being made by our district due to our inability to safely operate school as a result of so many staff being sent and the number of unfilled sub positions."

In Seattle, classes were fully canceled at Franklin High School and Kimball Elementary on Monday, and officials said they were working to determine the best way to resume classes for the week ahead.

"School is expected to be in session on Tuesday, January 11," said Drew O'Connell, the principal at Franklin. "At this time, we are working to determine if this will be all in-person, all remote, or some classes in-person and some classes remote. This decision will be based on a review of staff attendance data."

In a news briefing Friday, King County's health officer warned that widespread staffing impacts were likely across all sectors as case counts fueled by the highly infectious omicron variant continue to break new records.

"Things are likely to get more difficult before they get better," said Dr. Jeff Duchin. "We all need to plan for large numbers of people to be ill in a short timeframe, and resulting in absenteeism in workplaces and its effect on operations."

As of Monday morning, Lake Washington High School was the only school in the district affected by the staffing shortages. Right now, officials are planning for students to return in person on Wednesday, Jan. 19.

Parents and families can track the latest updates on the school district's website.