San Francisco public school officials announced the city’s youngest students and those who have special needs could expect to come back to in-person learning next month as coronavirus cases in the region continue to decrease.
Reports said that at least six elementary schools would reopen but maintain a maximum class size of 22 students to maintain a safe distance. On Friday, school officials announced the plans after the district successfully came to an agreement with the teachers’ union.
School Reopenings
City officials expect about 13,000 students to return to school with the reopening of most educational establishments. The plan would be to keep teachers and their students together during their time on campus. Employees and students would also be required to follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) guidelines.
“We stand strong in our efforts to work closely with all of our partners, and this is an important step on our path to returning to in-person learning. We continue to work extremely hard to ensure every student and family is receiving the support they need in the method they choose,” School Board President Gabriella Lopez said in aTwitter post.
The San Francisco Unified School District released a statement saying school officials hope to have more students slowly go back to in-person learning throughout April. Additionally, to help keep them safe, teachers are continuously being administered with COVID-19 vaccines before school reopenings begin.
While officials hope the reopening would attract students to go back to school, families are not required to send their children back to in-person learning. They can also choose to keep their kids on distance learning programs, NBC News reported.
Public school officials conducted a survey in January which found 57% of responders preferred to return to in-person learning while the remaining 43% said distance learning was the way to go.
