Clatsop County school districts have gone in several different directions since Gov. Kate Brown eased state restrictions on when and how students return to classrooms.

Ahead of schools’ winter break, the governor announced state guidelines for returning to school — such as the local number of positive coronavirus cases — would be “advisory rather than mandatory,” leaving the decision up to individual districts and schools.

Like many counties across Oregon, Clatsop County has been classified as either high risk or extreme risk since the end of November due to the number and rate of positive cases. While some school districts have begun to shift their operations to take advantage of the new flexibility offered by the state, most are still considering what they will do.

District administrators said they had expected a shift in how schools would be allowed to reopen to students, but the timing of Brown’s decision right before winter break caught many off guard.

The Astoria School District, which has started to plan for a gradual reopening later this month and in February, expects to discuss the shift in guidelines at a board meeting this month. For now, the district is continuing with nearly all students in online classrooms.

The Seaside School District’s board had voted ahead of Brown’s announcement to continue with distance learning across all grades until Feb. 1.

“At that time, our leadership team will review the case counts in Clatsop County in hopes of seeing a trend in declining cases,” Superintendent Susan Penrod said in an email to The Astorian at the end of December. “At this time we are still following this plan.”

In the the Knappa School District, some students returned to classrooms for the first time this school year following winter break.

In a letter to the community posted on the district’s website, however, Bill Fritz, the superintendent, announced that four employees were in quarantine over the virus.

Three had been exposed to the virus over the break but were showing no symptoms. One nonteaching staff member had tested positive and had symptoms but was “faring OK,” according to Fritz.

“We are able to operate with these people on leave,” he wrote.

He noted that county metrics showed an increase in positive cases over the prior week. But for now, the district has opted to allow the youngest grades in classrooms five days a week. Fourth-through-eighth graders are in class for less time and are still operating with distance learning. Higher grades are under a hybrid instruction model.

The Warrenton-Hammond School District allowed some of its students to return at least on a limited basis to classrooms ahead of the governor’s announcement, but now hopes to begin expanding in-classroom options beginning next week for some lower grade levels.

In a video posted to the grade school’s Facebook page, principal Rod Heyen announced the school would be adding an extra day of in-person instruction for kindergarten-through-third grade students. These students will now attend school five days a week.

The district hopes to phase in grades four through five under a hybrid model that combines online and in-person classes beginning next week. Many of these students were already going to classrooms on a very limited basis. What a return to school will look like for the higher grades is not clear yet, Superintendent Tom Rogozinski said.

The Jewell School District is one of the few in the county that because of its size and location was able to open fully to students at the start of the school year. Now, despite the easing of restrictions by the state, it is operating entirely under a distance learning model.

A middle school student tested positive for the coronavirus in early December. The district announced some cohorts in two grade levels would pivot to distance learning as a precaution.

But after attendance dropped dramatically following the announcement, the school, in consultation with the state and local public health officials, decided to move all students into distance learning.

Ahead of the New Year’s holiday, Jon Wood, the principal at Jewell School, announced that the school would continue with distance learning through Jan. 18.