Hood River County School District Superintendent Rich Polkinghorn told an on-line parents forum Thursday that on-line learning will be more rigorous this fall than in the spring when they were operating in crisis mode.  The district announced it will go to “comprehensive distance learning” to start the academic year after the state released COVID-19 metrics that made it unlikely the district could open with a hybrid model involving at least some in-building teaching.  Polkinghorn said the distance learning plan for this year puts more of the expectations and rigor back into the school day.  Polkinghorn says the earliest they would expect to be able to go into classrooms is November.  The district will continue to offer the on-line Hood River Options Academy as an option for parents, which Polkinghorn says is best for students who can work independently and with a flexible routine.