PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — After an entirely virtual school year because of the coronavirus, the School District of Philadelphia is looking at a February return to in-person classes for its youngest students.
Superintendent William Hite said pre-K through second graders who have chosen in-person instruction will likely begin going to school buildings two days a week sometime next month.
“We hope over the next week or two to begin releasing plans for how we will then be bringing those individuals back,” Hite said.
Hite told reporters that school staff would report a week to 10 days before students. He said if the city’s projections hold up, teachers may begin to get their COVID-19 vaccines in the beginning of February.
But he said teachers will not be required to get the vaccine and that the hybrid start is not dependent on teachers being inoculated.
“Our return is not conditioned on vaccines,” Hite said. “We support expediting the vaccines so that educators are receiving those. But the return is not conditioned on individuals receiving the vaccines.”
About 10,000 pre-K through second graders are signed up to return to school buildings. Hite said parents may still choose to have their children continue with virtual learning if they want.
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Hite said the plan is to have special needs students in grades three to 12 and career and technical students returning next. But he said the entire plan could change based on the levels of infection.
The district had plans to launch a hybrid schedule for students in pre-K through second grade in November, but they were scrapped at the beginning of the second wave of the virus.