Renton School District Superintendent Damien Pattenaude offered a holiday message before the two-week winter break. In his video message, he thanked “students and families for their resilience and flexibility you have demonstrated this school year… and to our staff thank you for your daily commitment to service.”

Superintendent Pattenaude also addressed a surprising announcement by Washington Governor Jay Inslee and Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal on Dec 16 on updated in the metrics used to inform local school districts decision for in-person learning.

“The update to the school health and safety toolkit comes after recent data showed limited COVID-19 transmission in school environments when state health and safety protocols are implemented,” Inslee said in a press release.

Superintendent Pattenaude said in the video “Our team is analyzing the Washington State Department of Health’s new toolkit to prepare for in-person learning. Additional, our staff have been hard to work all school year working through safety protocols and getting our builds ready as well as ordering items like personal protective equipment.”

“We we return from break, we will make determinations regarding potential next steps.”

Below the is the new metrics, as of 12/20 Seattle-King County Public Health reports the cities of Renton, Newcastle and unincorporated King County (Skyway) that makes up the Renton School District boundaries. Its cases per 100,000 is below 300.