Pandemic pushes innovation for student registration at Burrell

When multiple families attended in-person registration for kindergarten at Burrell School District every January, the process took several days.

That was pre-pandemic.

Now, it takes 10 minutes of in-person time at the school.

Before the pandemic, parents met with the principal, school nurse and district employees handling the registration paperwork.

“We had tons of people here at the same time,” said Gregory Egnor, Burrell’s director of student services.

When the covid-19 pandemic hit, the registration process had to change.

Through much of the pandemic, the school district has either prohibited or minimized the number of visitors to district buildings.

The district streamlined the process by conducting most of the registration tasks online.

Last winter, in January, the district registered about 122 kindergarten students who started school in the fall.

“The new process went a lot smoother than the old one,” Egnor said. “And it is a world easier for everyone and more convenient for the parents.”

Most information can be submitted online — birth certificates and other information.

But parents have to show up in person to sign an affidavit of residency and bring identification.

The school district will accommodate any parent or guardian who doesn’t have internet access or fluency, Egnor said. But last year, all the parents successfully navigated the registration process via the internet.

Egnor said the district eventually would have changed the registration process to mostly online, “but the pandemic really pushed it.”

Currently, Burrell is conducting all student registrations online.

Kindergarten registration is now open for next school year. Visit Burrell’s website for details.