PENDLETON — Pendleton school teachers pulled off the digital equivalent of a packed house at a Monday, July 13, school board meeting.

While only two educators spoke to the board about their concerns with the district’s draft reopening plan, about 30 people were following the webcast of the meeting from home, many of them teachers.

Through the video chat, Sunridge Middle School science teacher Nichole Erwin told the board she was concerned that masks would be optional for students. According to the draft, masking students would be “left to the discretion of the family and/or student,” unless the state or county specifically mandated it.

“I think we should be looking at ways to keep it as healthy and safe as possible,” she said.

Pendleton High School math teacher Eric Oja said staff would need more paid sick leave for COVID-19 than the two weeks created by the federal relief package, adding that some people took longer than two weeks to recover from the virus and time was also needed to take care of sick family members.

Superintendent Chris Fritsch and school board chair Debbie McBee thanked the teachers for their comments and assured them it was only a draft plan.

“This is probably going to be the most fluid experience any of us will go through in their lives,” Fritsch said.

In an interview after the meeting, Fritsch clarified some of the details of the plan while anticipating that the blueprint will be very different by the time the district opens its doors for the new school year on Sept. 1.

Fritsch said he understood the concerns teachers had, even as some issues like wearing a mask to prevent the spread of COVID-19 have become politically polarizing.

He said the district would need to look at the ramifications of a district-wide mask mandate, including what to do if a parent or student refused to wear a face covering.

In the event of a COVID-19 outbreak at a school or several schools, Fritsch said there isn’t a standardized response plan. Like an outbreak of the flu or chickenpox, Fritsch said the district would consult with Umatilla County Public Health and use its recommendation to inform the district’s response, which might vary depending on the situation.

There are several parts of the district’s draft blueprint that Fritsch said would need to be detailed further.

The district will be using a “synchronous method” for the middle and high school levels next year, which means the student bodies will be split in half and asked to come into school on alternating days. On days where students are supposed to stay at home, Fritsch said they will still be expected to log in online and follow lessons remotely.

Although the district is planning to lend out laptops to every student in the district, Fritsch said administration is exploring how to connect students who don’t have access to the internet. He said they’re having discussions with the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation Education Department about setting up some sort of web access area and looking at setting up Wi-Fi hotspots for others without internet access.

The changes at the elementary school level are less drastic, but there are still challenges left to be solved.

Class sizes will be restricted to seven students per 250 square feet of space to allow for social distancing, but with some fourth- and fifth-grade classes usually set at around 30 children, Fritsch said the district will have to figure out how some classes operate.

Although some teachers have expressed consternation over the current draft, Fritsch said its release was a good chance to collect input from teachers and parents before making further revisions.

Fritsch said the plan doesn’t need to be approved by the board, but the county’s public health department will need to sign off on it before it goes into effect. The board did take action on the 2020-21 school calendar, unanimously voting to remove five days from the end of the school year, which will be made up by holding school when Round-Up week usually happens. School is set to start Sept. 1 and end June 3, 2021.

Changes to the district’s reopening blueprint could come as soon as next week, which is when Fritsch said the Oregon Department of Education is expected to release an updated set of reopening guidelines.