In-person reopening plans on the minds of DMV parents as fall virtual learning begins in few weeks
NORTH POTOMAC, Md. (FOX 5 DC) - Virtual learning is all the talk these days but many parents in the DMV still want to know if their kids will physically go back to school after the fall.
Distance learning for many school districts in the D.C. region starts August 31.
READ MORE: Here's what DC, Maryland and Virginia school districts have planned for the fall
A lot of school districts are focusing on continuing to hand out technology for when schools start virtually. On Tuesday at Stone Mill Elementary School in North Potomac, volunteers were seen handing out Chrome books, MiFi devices for hotspots, and other learning materials so that kids are equipped with that technology come fall.
But the question still remained, what happens when kids are no longer learning online?
Aisha Aziz of Clarksburg, Maryland, has three daughters enrolled in Montgomery County Public Schools. Two of them are in elementary school and one is going into kindergarten.
She said that while virtual learning is the way to go, as far as starting the school year is concerned, she wants to know, what steps are in place to keep kids and staff safe after the first quarter in 2021.
The mother of three wondered what recess will look like, will students have P.E outdoors, or if they will attend school on alternate days or go back in phases.
“How is lunch going to look like? How is pick up going to look like?” asked Aziz. “Or one of the biggest ones is the after school activities because you have tons of kids who are in these activities majority of which are held within the buildings, so what is their approach? I personally think they should just continue with the upper classes remaining online and having the younger aged kids go back to school because they really need that face to face interaction.”
FOX 5’s Ayesha Khan went back and forth with MCPS to find out how they are preparing schools for an eventual return to in-person instruction. A spokesperson said that work continues across the district in advance of a possible February 2021 return pending of course approval from local and state officials.
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Our crews were not allowed to be inside any of the schools to see what the preparation looks like. Instead, we were referred back to an event from Glebe weeks at College Garden Elementary School in Rockville, where MCPS showed us how they are rearranging classrooms and other shared spaces in schools.
The work also includes, clearly marking the hallways, classrooms and seats on school busses. Continuing to order PPE’s making adjustments to meal services, handling organization of groups and phases for when the school system is cleared to return.
Many schools have also told us that they're relying on CDC guidelines in order to determine when to reopen. Those guidelines recommend a COVID test positivity rate of five percent or less. Right now in Montgomery County, the positivity rate is 2.5 percent.
But in Fairfax County, Virginia‘s largest school district, the COVID positivity rate is 6.1 percent which is still above the CDC guidance for allowing students back in the classroom.
Also in Fairfax County, the school board had been in a meeting all afternoon Tuesday, mostly focusing on the start of the virtual school year.
But part of that agenda included discussion on an update on health metrics which includes whether to solely follow the CDC guidelines or whether to come up with specific guidelines for the county alone.
In addition, an expected proposal will be that FCPS leadership plans to offer small group cohorts of students- who have extreme hardship with online learning – such as very young students, some students who receive special education services, students who speak very limited English – to return in-person first. This process has worked well and mirrors similar processes in other school divisions across the country.