UMATILLA COUNTY — Going into the Oregon Department of Education’s latest update on its COVID-19 rules, InterMountain Education Service District Superintendent Mark Mulvihill said Eastern Oregon administrators were looking for two things — reducing the social distancing requirement from 6 feet to 3 feet and removal of the cohort limit.

When the state made its announcement on Monday, March 22, they got both.

“It’s very exciting news,” Mulvhill said. “It’s a game changer.”

The day after the state changed the rules, Hermiston School District sent out an announcement of its own — all students would resume full-time learning five days a week starting April 13.

Superintendent Tricia Mooney said the 6-foot requirement had been the thing holding the district back from offering full-time school sooner. Once 6 feet was merely recommended, but only 3 feet was required, the district was anxious to move forward.

“We might have to look at how we use some spaces differently, but we’re excited to have everyone back,” she said.

Building administrators are working out plans for their buildings now. Six feet of space will still be required in some situations, such as while students take their masks off to eat lunch, so Mooney said students will be spread out in smaller groups in common areas and outdoor spaces to make lunchtime work. Students who don’t bring lunch from home will be given a sack lunch to take to their designated area, and breakfast for the next morning will be sent home with students rather than eaten in the classroom.

Mooney said another key change in the Ready Schools, Safe Learners guidance, updated March 15, changed rules for “cohorts” designed to limit the spread of outbreaks by limiting the number of people students and staff came into contact with in the building. Removing a rule that students must come into contact with no more than 100 different people per week allows high school students to move from class to class for different subjects as they would in a normal year.

She said the district had already stocked up on cleaning supplies and hired extra custodial staff to handle sanitizing requirements.

Families who don’t want their students to return to the classroom will be able to participate in the Hermiston Online! virtual academy instead.

In the midst of its spring break, the Pendleton School District hasn’t made any announcements on its operational plans with its new rules in place. High school and middle school students are set to return to school for part-time instruction on Monday, March 29.

Pendleton Superintendent Chris Fritsch said the district’s secondary schools will reopen as advertised, but the district will need until April 12 to formulate a plan based on the new rules.

While the new guidance allows schools to offer more expansive in-person options, Fritsch said the district still needs to answer some logistical questions before it makes any changes, such as how school bus service would work if the district moved K-5 to an all-day schedule or what kind of impacts the state’s recommended 36-student cohorts would have locally.

And although the social distancing requirement has been halved, the district still has to determine if its classrooms have enough space to accommodate whole classes while maintaining at least 3 feet of separation.

“We’re going to get the tape measures out and see what we can work with,” Fritsch said.

With the size, space and age of facilities varying vastly from district to district, Mulvihill, the IMESD superintendent, said how schools will continue to reopen will depend on the school system.

Mulvihill said he understood that parents were eager to get every school to reopen completely, but Umatilla County still needs to continue driving down case rates if it wants to continue lifting educational restrictions.

Nevertheless, Mulvihill thinks the state’s new standards will become the floor for school operations going forward as school start looking ahead to fall.

Mulvihill said he expects districts across the region to begin formulating and unveiling their new plans after the end of spring break.