Returning Oregon students to onsite learning is an enormous responsibility that is shared by schools, districts, and local and state public health agencies. At this time, no school in Malheur County meets the criteria for in-person instruction, although some meet exceptions. All schools meet the exception that provides an allowance for limited in-person instruction for specific groups of students. Three districts (Arock, Juntura, and Jordan Valley) meet the exception for districts with enrollment of <75 students in total in areas with less cases and community spread and will be able to reopen for in-person instruction. For more information on the criteria, visit the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) School Metrics Dashboard, a visual Metrics Explainer, and the full Ready Schools, Safe Learners Guidance for planning for the 2020-2021 school year.

For schools to be able to meet the exception for “low population density counties,” the following metrics need to be met:

• Total county COVID-19 cases in the last three weeks is ≤30, with less than half of cases (or ≤5 cases) reported in the last week of the three-week period.
• Schools fully comply with sections 1-3 of the Ready Schools, Safe Learners guidance and students cannot be part of any single cohort, or part of multiple cohorts that is >50 people.
• There is not community spread in the school catchment area.
• There is not community spread in the communities that serve as the primary employment and community centers (for shopping and other in-person services) and the school is isolated by a significant distance from communities reporting COVID-19 community spread in the previous three weeks. 
• The school does not serve a significant number of transfer students from outside its catchment area that are from communities reporting COVID-19 community spread in the previous three weeks.

In response to those metrics, Malheur County Health Department (MCHD) is reporting the number of cases per day, per week, and over the past three weeks on the daily updated COVID-19 Cases page, so that the community can track how close we are to allowing those exceptions to school districts.

MCHD has received the following schools’ Operational Blueprint for Reentry, written following the guidance issued by the ODE. Staff from Malheur County Health Department and Environmental Health are reviewing sections One through Three of the Blueprints. Links to district plans can be found on the Oregon Department of Education website. We are ready to work with these schools to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 in our community.

• Adrian School District
  • Adrian Elementary/Middle School
  • Adrian High School
• Arock School District
  • W W Jones Elementary School
• Annex School District
  • Annex K-8
• Burnt River School District
• Community School
  • Four Rivers Community School
• Jordan Valley School District
  • Rockville School
• Juntura School District
  • Juntura K-8
• Harper School District
  • Harper Charter School
• Huntington School District
  • Huntington Schools
• Nyssa School District
  • Nyssa High School
  • Nyssa Middle School
  • Nyssa Elementary School
• Ontario School District
  • Aiken Elementary School
  • Alameda Elementary School
  • Cairo Elementary School
  • May Roberts Elementary School
  • Ontario High School
  • Ontario Middle School
  • Pioneer Elementary School
• St. Peter School District
• Vale School District
  • Oregon Trail Learning Academy
  • Willowcreek Elementary
  • Vale High School
  • Vale Middle School
  • Vale Elementary School

MCHD urges the public to come together and be vigilant. Help us reduce the spread of COVID-19, prevent overloading the health care system, and keep people healthy. This virus is dangerously impacting a large percentage of our community and it still poses a great threat. Please follow safety measures in place to help schools reopen for in person instruction. It’s up to us to follow the guidance if we want to keep Malheur County safe and strong.