Board presents school reopening logistics on Feb. 9

The Board of Education (BOE) voted unanimously to begin the return to in-person instruction on March 1, after almost a year of all virtual instruction and multiple reopening delays. Reopening will begin with smaller and most vulnerable groups in need of adult support; students in special education or certain career/tech programs. Enhanced PPE has been sent out to all schools hosting these programs.

The rest of the students will begin phasing in on March 15, according to the full four-phase reopening plan that was also approved by the Board during the meeting. For high school, seniors will return earliest, followed by freshman and juniors, and lastly sophomores. All groups will return by no later than April 26 if things go as planned. The exact groups and order of phasing can be viewed at MCPS SMOB Nick Asante’s Instagram post or this community update.

“At this point in time, prioritization is the only way to start returning back to normalcy. Even if I get only a couple weeks back to school I’ll be happy! I really miss my friends and teachers, and as long as we are being safe, something is better than nothing,” sophomore Anushka Iyer said.

Students that chose hybrid learning (around 40 percent) will be split into groups A and B and go to school in-person for four days of the week, every other week. Wednesdays will remain a virtual asynchronous learning day for all students. First period will begin at 9:00 am to stay consistent with virtual learning in all grades. Masks will be required and social distancing will be enforced.

“Many aspects of the in-person experience will not look like normal school prior to COVID-19. We recognize that the phase in schedules, the rotations, and the experiences will not be perfect,” MCPS Chief of Teaching Learning and Schools Janet Wilson said. “However, it is important to recognize there is great value in the experience of being in school, riding the bus, seeing friends, and having access to a staff member who is in person.”

If families wish to change their return choice to something different from what they chose on the MCPS family preference survey that closed in December, they should submit a request to the school principal. In-person to virtual changes can be made at any time to ensure that everyone feels safe, but virtual to in-person depends on space availability.

“I chose to stay virtual; I’m lucky enough to be in a situation where virtual learning is benefiting me just like in-person would. I wouldn’t want to take spots away from students who need to be in school, and I’m perfectly happy waiting until 2021-2022 to return to an in-person environment,” freshman Marissa Boucher said.

Some have expressed concern over how teachers will be able to manage virtual students and in-person students simultaneously and give equal attention, so that virtual groups are not disadvantaged. “I’m a little worried about how virtual learning will change when teachers have to accommodate in-person students. But I trust that MCPS staff have at least a decent plan in place and the ability to adapt to the situation,” Boucher said.

MCPS has implemented different instructional experiences that will be effective once some students transition to in-person learning. MCPS is also hiring extra staff and educators in order to provide the proper supervision, coverage, and support as students start to come back. In-person school will require new additions to faculty not just for instruction, but to exercise routines like bus and lunch duty.

In terms of vaccinating teachers, MCPS is behind other counties. Although 4,000 MCPS employees have been vaccinated through a partnership with Johns Hopkins University, the supply has been depleted and teachers were told by the district they likely have to wait another five weeks. However, MCPS has always based its plans on health metrics rather than vaccination numbers.

“I miss seeing students very much. Virtual teaching is not the same and it will be different going back. Especially if I don’t know what my students look like because I have never seen them. I would hope over the next few weeks as preparations are beginning to welcome students back that they begin feeling a little more comfortable and turning on their cameras so I get to see them before we return,” computer science teacher Kimberly Gustin said.

As of Tuesday, the county’s test positivity rate was about 4 percent and the case rate was about 23 cases per 100,000 people. The thresholds set in December were below 5 percent and 15 cases, so metrics are on track for March.

Regarding the school calendar, March 8 will be a day off and March 9 and March 10 will be asynchronous learning days, so staff can go into buildings and have three days to prepare. Spring break is as scheduled and the last day of school is June 16. A big priority of the county is mitigating the learning loss over the next two years and focusing on students and their wellbeing.

For more information, an in-depth recovery plan and sample schedules can be found on the MCPS website. Details on transportation will be shared with the community as the reopening date gets closer. Clubs, extracurricular activities, and sports are challenges that are still being discussed, and plans will be held off to the next meeting. The BOE’s next meeting is scheduled for Feb. 23 and it will be in-person.