Thousands of Washington children are headed back to school this week — a majority of them remotely — but you’ll hear few firsthand accounts from our reporting team about what’s happening inside.
That’s because no local school district we asked allowed our team to sit in on students’ first days of class.
In the days leading up to this week, our reporters reached out to teachers and officials at Seattle, Highline, Bellevue, Lake Washington and Renton school districts.
Several district officials said they asked teachers to consider our request: We hoped to document this important historical moment for students and teachers who are facing an unprecedented and challenging school season.
But, these officials said, no teachers volunteered to participate. “It’s a lot of pressure already — doing something that is all so new in a situation fraught with uncertainty,” one district spokesperson wrote to us.
Other officials cited concerns about student privacy and technical issues. Some gave no reason. “Thank you for your interest. However, we are not allowing anyone but classroom teachers or school/district support staff to be a part of Zoom conferences with students,” an official for the Renton School District wrote.