PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The School District of Philadelphia is expanding the list of students eligible for in-person learning for Phase II of its hybrid learning plan.
Starting April 26, students in grades three through five and students with special needs in grades six through eight — including students with autism and students who are deaf or visually impaired — can begin in-person classes two days a week. Parents of students in these groups may begin signing up via a survey for the hybrid model, starting Tuesday, April 6.
Phase II hybrid learning students would attend school in classrooms two days per week and learn from home three days per week.
Families may remain all-digital if they wish, and those who do not make a selection will stay 100% virtual by default.
Teachers for these students are expected to begin reporting to schools Monday, April 12 for training.
Twelve more schools will have to be cleared by the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers before teachers return to the buildings.
Currently, about one-third of the district’s pre-K through second-graders have opted for hybrid classes.
With 11 weeks to go in the school year, Chief of Schools Evelyn Nunez couldn’t say when the next group of hybrid students would be announced.
“It is our goal to bring back students, again, slowly and safely as soon as possible,” she said.
Although new CDC guidelines allow desks to be 3 feet apart, there haven’t been enough students in classrooms to move them closer than 6 feet apart, she said.
“At this time, based on the number of students that we have in our hybrid model, we’ve been very successful in maintain social distancing requirements at 6 feet.”