With conflicting views and conflicting plans that continue to emerge, this is where plans to reopen schools in major cities across the country lie.
California’s two largest school districts announced Monday that schools will not open for any in-person instruction when the academic year begins in August, and that students will continue to learn remotely. The Los Angeles Unified School District and the San Diego Unified School District are the largest school districts to date to forego any kind of in-person instruction.
Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Austin Beutner said in a video announcement Monday that more information about the start of the school year will be shared “in the coming weeks” and that “our goal is to welcome you to students back to school as soon as possible. ” as it is safe and appropriate for us to do so. “The Los Angeles district is the second largest in the country.
The announcement comes just days after United Teachers Los Angeles, representing 35,000 teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School District, called on schools to remain closed and focus on remote learning in light of the increasing number of coronavirus cases.
“It is time to take a position against Trump’s dangerous anti-scientific agenda that puts the lives of our members, our students and our families at risk,” UTLA President Cecily Myart-Cruz said in a statement. “We all want to physically open schools and return to our students, but life is hanging by a thread. Safety must be the priority. We need to do this well for our communities.”
The decision to keep schools closed in Los Angeles and San Diego runs counter to mounting pressure from the federal government to open schools as soon as possible.
President Trump reiterated his call for the reopening of schools on Monday, citing that children’s immune systems are “much stronger” than that of adults after previously threatening to withhold funds from states that refuse to open for in-person instruction.
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos echoed Trump’s sentiments about returning to CNN’s State of the Union in-person briefing over the weekend. “Children need to be in school,” said DeVos. “They must be learning. They must move on. And we cannot, we cannot be paralyzed and not allow that to happen or not intend for that to happen.”
New York
For the nation’s largest school district, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced his plan to reopen schools for at least some in-person instruction in the fall. By proposing three models of tiered face-to-face instruction, de Blasio’s blended learning plan would allow in-person attendance to range from one to three days a week.
Governor Andrew Cuomo said Monday that in order for the in-person class to be allowed, a region must be in Phase 4 of reopening, which is not New York City. School districts must also be in regions where the daily infection rate remains at 5% or less for an average of 14 days. Cuomo said final decisions on the reopening will be made during the first week of August.
Nashville
Nashville public schools were forced to roll back the course, no longer returned to in-person learning on August 4, and strictly offered remote learning for at least Labor Day.
Last month, Nashville announced plans to offer two models for the start of the school year, both physical return in person and virtual learning. However, given the latest coronavirus data in the area, school officials have concluded that they should not return to the in-person model scheduled for August 4. “I am not a public health expert, but I am becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the data and information in front of us,” Adrienne Battle, principal of the Nashville Metro Public Schools, said at a press conference on July 9.
Battle noted that in the past week alone, the area has seen “some of the worst daily numbers” since the crisis began in March, while acknowledging its disappointment.
“This is not how I wanted things to be,” he said.
Atlanta
Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Lisa Herring announced Monday that Atlanta public schools will begin virtually the first nine weeks of the school year. Under Herring’s proposal, the start of the school year will be delayed from August 10 to 24.
The first two weeks of August will be used as pre-planning for teachers. August 17-21 will be a largely virtual period where students and teachers can prepare for the start of the school year, which could include some face-to-face and small group interaction. Herring said this period would be used to assess students’ ability and give them an opportunity to meet their teachers. Herring said the situation in Atlanta will continue to be monitored and reevaluated as the school year progresses.
“In the perfect setting, we would have a face-to-face engagement for the first day of school,” Herring said during the virtual board meeting in making the announcement.
The Atlanta superintendent’s office shared the results during Monday’s meeting of a parent-teacher survey of their readiness to return. The poll was conducted through June 30, just before some of the highs Atlanta is now seeing. According to the superintendent, 37% of participants want the school to be completely virtual and 57% want the instructional model of teaching to be aligned with health recommendations. The survey also found that 72% of teachers and 67% of bus drivers were at least somewhat uncomfortable when returning to work in person.
Miami
The Miami-Dade County Public Schools district is currently in Phase 1 of reopening and cannot offer in-person instruction until the region enters Phase 2. As the district prepares, it has asked the parents and guardians who 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.
Miami Dade Public Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho spoke about the challenges facing his district in a recent appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“The issue of social distancing at any school in Miami-Dade or Broward or Palm Beach or other districts can be difficult to achieve,” said Carvalho.
“Our school year begins in six weeks. It is very possible if the social behavior and the restrictions in force, if people wear masks, if people exert a social distancing that conditions can be appropriate and healthy for students go back to school. The best teaching and learning model that is in person, “said Carvalho.
But as the city considers blended models of face-to-face and remote learning, Gov. Ron DeSantis has pushed for schools to reopen, arguing last week that if Walmart and Home Depot can reopen, schools should, too.
“We spent months saying there were certain things that were essential, which included fast food restaurants, Walmart, Home Depot. If fast food and Walmart and Home Depot, and look, I do all of that, so I don’t belittle it, but yeah All of that is essential, educating our children is absolutely essential, “said the Republican Governor on July 10.
Florida Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran set the challenge for school districts across the state on July 6 by issuing an emergency order requiring all “physical schools” to open “at least five days a week for all “making it clear that the state’s priority is to get students back to in-person instruction.
Detroit
Detroit Public Schools opened its doors for summer classes on Monday, for the first time students will be able to return to classes in person as the doors closed in response to the pandemic. Detroit will offer in-person and virtual learning courses, and families have the option to decide which model they prefer.
Approximately 4,000 parents enrolled in voluntary summer school, and more than half chose in-person instruction. Approximately 300 teachers signed up for 180 positions to teach in person.
The summer period, which runs through August 6, requires students and staff to wear face masks, practice social distancing, answer questions on a health form, and have their temperature checked. Classrooms and buses will also be disinfected daily.
Superintendent Nikolai Vitti said he sees a “desperate demand for face-to-face learning.”
“Online learning was not ideal and our children have been left behind,” Vitti told CNN.
Dallas
Dallas Independent School District Superintendent Michael Hinojosa expressed growing concern about being ready in time to reopen schools in mid-August, given the high rates of coronavirus in his district.
“We were planning this for a while, so initially I thought we would be ready, but I’m starting to have doubts about whether we can do it before August 17,” Hinojosa told MSNBC last week.
Following the superintendent’s comments, the Dallas Independent School District tweeted that the Board of Trustees “will meet later this month for a special meeting convened at that time, the administration may make recommendations for an alternative start date for the school year. 2020-2021 “.
In early July, the Texas Education Agency released its plan to reopen schools detailing that families will have the option of face-to-face or virtual instruction.
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