Universities to students: Stick around

This story is being republished in print today. The print version included in Monday’s Moscow-Pullman Daily News did not run in its entirety because of a Daily News error.

With the arrival of the holidays, local universities and school districts have joined calls from state and federal health authorities and asked students and their families avoid traveling during breaks.

The University of Idaho has been delivering classes mostly in person for the fall semester but will shift the majority of instruction online, starting Nov. 30, between the end of this week’s Thanksgiving break and the spring.

UI Spokeswoman Jodi Walker said with classes online for the remainder of the semester, there is no expectation that students physically return to Moscow to attend class, though they are welcome to. She noted hundreds of students have indicated they plan to stay in their own Moscow apartments, dorms or Greek residences through the break and said testing will continue to be made available to students, faculty and staff.

Walker said those who do travel are asked to isolate for six days on their return and then contact the school’s COVID manager to arrange a time for a test.

“We’ll continue to do testing, we’ll continue to monitor our students who are here and offices will remain open,” Walker said. “We are asking all of those staff who can work from home to consider doing so until the start of the next semester with the expectation that all services are still open and available through (Jan.) 18th.”

UI student Melisa Creek said she will likely stick around Moscow for the break except for occasional forays to northern Idaho for snowboarding.

“I’m in the Army, and I have a bunch of friends around the area who don’t really have anywhere to go for Thanksgiving and so I’m doing a ‘friendsgiving’ at my place,” Creek said. “My dad just got COVID and so (I’m) not going to be going home so that I can avoid COVID.”

Tana Rayburn, who is finishing her degree in plant genomics and biotechnology at the UI this year, said she was recently tested and is carefully isolating so she will be safe to visit her parents for Thanksgiving.

“I’m quarantining and then I’m gonna go see them, come back, get tested, quarantine, and then stay in Moscow,” Rayburn said.

Washington State University, which has been delivering instruction solely online this semester, is also asking students, faculty and staff to avoid travel if possible. WSU Spokesman Phil Weiler said if students do choose to travel for the holidays, the school is asking them to stay home until the beginning of the spring semester. Weiler said the coming semester will start a week later than usual — on Jan. 18 — to give students extra time to move in and to give the school time to conduct arrival testing and screening.

Moscow School District Superintendent Greg Bailey noted that most students in the district who are currently isolating will have cleared their quarantine period by the conclusion of Thanksgiving break. However, he said despite guidance to avoid gathering this holiday season, there is an expectation that many will travel to visit family outside of the area which will likely result in a rise in cases of COVID-19 — both locally and nationally.

“It may not happen right away, because it takes a few days, but we will probably see an increase, unfortunately,” Bailey said. “Unless people are really diligent with their mask wearing and (other measures) throughout.”

Pullman Superintendent Bob Maxwell echoed these concerns, warning a sharp rise in the local infection rates could affect Pullman’s plans to return to in-person instruction in the spring. The district recently approved plans to begin a hybrid instructional model starting Jan. 4 with students in kindergarten and first grade, but Maxwell said it’s difficult to predict how viral trends and related mandates from state and federal authorities will affect these plans in the coming weeks.

“I think a lot of it’s going to depend on what in the community occurs as far as curtailing the spread of COVID,” he said. “That’s going to dictate how quickly we’re going to be able to reopen in person and so we’re really talking with the community about everyone doing their part to stop the spread.”

Scott Jackson can be reached at (208) 883-4636, or by email to sjackson@dnews.com.