Reopening of schools: where some of the country’s largest school districts are located

07/21/2020 Health


Many major school districts refuse to reopen, some even challenge state guidelines, until coronavirus cases begin to decline. For those offering hybrid learning, or some face-to-face online classes, parents generally have the option to opt out and enroll their children in all online classes for the remainder of the school year.

The plans below could change again based on the ever-changing pandemic trends. This is what some of the largest school districts in the US are planning when schools resume classes.

As we saw across the country at the end of this last school year, virtual learning would require children to stay home and attend online classes with a computer. Whether through Zoom or some other video calling application, students will be able to see their instructors and classmates. But without a physically present teacher, much of the responsibility for keeping the student involved would rest with the parents.

These are the school districts that will start classes in the fall only through virtual learning:

Los Angeles (start date: August 18)

The Los Angeles Unified School District will not begin the school year with face-to-face classes, LAUSD Superintendent Austin Beutner said this week. The school district is the second largest in the United States, with more than 600,000 students.

Beutner did not confirm when schools will reopen or transition to some instruction at school with any instruction at home. LAUSD will release the final plans during the first week of August, he said.

“Our commitment to students and their families is to provide the best possible education in the classroom, either online or at school,” he said.

In the mixed model of remote and in-person learning, teachers would offer tutoring after school and on the weekends to “help students make up for lost time,” Beutner said.

Atlanta (start date: August 24)

Atlanta Public Schools will begin the first nine weeks of the school year online, and the first day of school will be delayed two weeks until August 24.
Cobb County, the second largest school system in Georgia and includes part of Atlanta, will begin the school year remotely also on August 17. Cobb County School District Superintendent Chris Ragsdale said he “is not setting a timeline for how long students will be involved.” virtual learning. “

Dallas (start date: August, date to be confirmed)

Public and private schools in Dallas cannot reopen for in-person instruction until after September 8, the Dallas County Department of Health and Human Services ordered. Schools must hold classes virtually before then. Dallas Independent School District Superintendent Michael Hinojosa previously expressed doubts that the district could reopen by the proposed start date of August 17.

Houston (start date: September 8)

The Houston Independent School District will begin the school year virtually on September 8 with online instruction for six weeks before in-person instruction begins on October 19.

The city changed its guidelines after significant increases in coronavirus cases in the area. I was tentatively planning to reopen in August with a hybrid learning model.

Beginning August 24, parents may opt out of receiving in-person instruction during the fall semester last October 19.
Des Moines Public Schools custodian Tracy Harris cleans class chairs at Brubaker Elementary School.

Parents must decide

Both parents and teachers have expressed their frustrations that their students learn from home. And those struggles are amplified especially when it comes to people with special needs or others who are used to interventions that depend on practical instruction.
Even the American Academy of Pediatrics has advocated for students to be physically present in classrooms, saying evidence shows that the academic, mental, and physical benefits of in-person learning outweigh the risks of the coronavirus.

Knowing the importance of face-to-face classes, some school districts are putting the decision in the hands of parents to choose whether they would like their children to learn at school or virtually at home.

Here are the school districts asking parents to decide:

New York (start date: September, day to be confirmed)

The New York City City School District, the largest district in the country, plans to use a “blended learning model” for students who choose. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said most of the students will be at school two to three days. one week, and the “optimal” class size will be nine to 12 students per classroom, with established social distancing requirements.

Families who prefer their children to take classes online only have until August 7 to present their choice.

“We know that we cannot maintain adequate physical distance and that 100% of our students are in school buildings 5 ​​days a week, it is simply not possible geographically or physically,” said New York Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza . “Health and safety require that we have fewer students in the building at the same time.”

Chicago (September 8)

The Chicago Public Schools proposed a “hybrid learning model” that makes most students learn from home and attend school a limited number of days a week, as long as public health officials sign. The district serves 355,000 students and is the third largest in the country.

The plan allows about 50% of the student population to attend school in person on any given day, and students will be placed in groups of approximately 15 children to minimize exposure to others. Each group will spend the same two days at school each week, then the same two days learning from home, and then every Wednesday will participate in “virtual real-time instruction” with their classroom teacher, as proposed.

Parents can choose not to receive in-person instruction and choose full-time virtual learning, the district said.

Most juniors and seniors in high school will take classes online full time, according to the CPS plan. However, juniors and seniors who need “additional academic or social and emotional support” are encouraged to attend school in person.

Students, faculty, and staff at schools must wear face masks, which schools will provide, and undergo daily temperature checks.

Miami-Dade County (start date: August 24)

Despite Gov. Ron DeSantis’ vote to reopen state schools for in-person instruction, Miami-Dade County Public Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said that schools would only reopen if the county observed a rate of coronavirus positivity below 10%. The county’s coronavirus positivity rate last week was above 33%, and it is still in Phase 1 of its reopening plan.

As the district prepares, it has asked parents and guardians to decide how they want their students to return to school: either in person, through a combined model, or strictly online. Those decisions must be submitted to the district by July 15.

Carvalho told CNN that the county achieved “100% connectivity” so that each student could have internet access for distance education.

New Orleans (start date: August, date to be confirmed)

New Orleans schools will open with a hybrid model but will prioritize in-person learning for kindergarten through fourth grade students, the NOLA Public Schools said in its reopening plan.

Parents who are not comfortable with in-person or hybrid learning may choose to learn from home during the school year.

Greenville County, South Carolina (start date: August 24)

Greenville County Schools, the largest district in South Carolina with approximately 80,000 students, presented a plan that is flexible for in-person attendance, depending on the rates of spread of the coronavirus. The plan would allow parents to send their children to school up to a few days a week or more, except when the danger of spread is high. The other option: Students learn at home for 100% online learning throughout the year. About 10,000 students enrolled in the county virtual school before the July 27 registration deadline.

In the case of a “high” spread rate, as defined by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, it may be necessary to go to zero days of in-person assistance.

In the case of “low” spread, the district may move toward the goal of five days of in-person instruction per week.

CNN’s Kristina Sgueglia, Stella Chan, Annie Grayer, Jenn Selva, Jack Hannah, Natasha Chen, Pierre Meilhan, Brad Parks, Kay Jones, and Bianna Golodryga contributed to this report.

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