With many schools returning to normal with a mix of face-to-face and virtual learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, Yakima Valley College will remain online. Officials from the local college say YVC will continue to offer online courses to students through the fall quarter of 2021.
Linda Kaminski, President of YVC, said, “This is a decision that needs to be made now to complete the development of the YVC fall curriculum, offer counseling to our students, and give our entire campus community ample time to admit plan as we look forward to the future Our campus community has shown tremendous resilience to resuming regular operations during this pandemic and I know it will continue to do so. “
Why continue with virtual learning while other schools are opening across the state and while state health authorities are urgently opening schools? Yakima Valley College officials say the decision to continue largely virtual learning is based on state restrictions on colleges and the need to continue efforts to protect the health and safety of YVC staff and students.
That means the Yakima Valley College campus will remain closed to the public with no in-person events scheduled and all services online. School officials say decisions about operations will be made at a later date in the winter quarter of 2022.
Other schools in the valley and in the state make individual decisions for students in public schools. Private schools in the Yakima area, including the Riverside Christian School, have been open since last year with no problems or major outbreaks of COVID-19 reported.