With Oregon Governor Kate Brown announcing just before the holidays that previous mandatory guidance about meeting county-level positivity rates and COVID-19 case counts before going to in-person learning now advisory, schools in the region are putting their plans in to place, with the larger districts waiting to make announcements.  North Wasco County School District 21 remains in distance learning with plans to issue an update the week of January 19, with Interim Superintendent Theresa Peters saying that will give the district time to absorb new guidance due from the state and gather input from parents and staff.  The Hood River County School District had indicated it would wait until its new semester at the start of February to make any change.  Schools with under 250 students were eligible to open at the beginning of the school year, and all such schools in Wasco, Sherman and Gilliam counties did so in the early weeks of fall.  Schools in Sherman and Gilliam counties are continuing in-person learning, Dufur School will be in distance learning this week with pre-schoolers returning to in-person learning next week, and schoolwide hybrid on-site learning starting January 19.  South Wasco County School District is starting this week with comprehensive distance learning, and next Monday kindergarten through eighth grade students will be in-person, with all students in person on January 19.