GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – The Green Bay school board is moving up its plans to bring students back to the classroom.
Board members have approved bringing students back to in-person classes starting on March 1st.
The full plan would start with students in grades 3K-5 returning to class for 4 days a week beginning that day.
A blended mix of students in 6th and 9th grade would also return to in-person classes on March 1st.
On March 8th, a blended group of students would return to in-person classes for grades 7-8, as well as grades 10-12.
The week of March 22nd would be virtual for all students.
Students would return to blended learning on March 29, the following week.
For some Green Bay parents, the return-to-school date cannot come soon enough.
Before the board voted, some parents wished it would come sooner.
“Consider coming back, with student, most of them by March the 1st. I’ve been watching the reports with the CDC coming out about teacher vaccinations not being necessary as a return-to-school criteria in all cases,” Green Bay parent Jeff Strommen said.
Joe McCabe is both a parent and an educator and feels differently.
“Our education and staff are grappling with the same unthinkable decisions about returning to face-to-face instruction. There’s only one positive for most of us planning on returning. And that is that there will be an opportunity to get the first dose of vaccination before returning. Please do not take that opportunity away.”
Kristin Wall wants to see kids back in school. She is both a healthcare worker and a parent.
“I see my coworkers on the phone while at the hospital, guiding their kids through virtual learning in between seeing patients. I personally make phone calls, I FaceTime with my son while I’m at work, trying to guide him through this failing process.”
The board says when students return, there may be some obstacles.
“It’s going to be difficult to both meet the needs of the students off-site and virtually,” Green Bay schools deputy superintendent Vicki Bayer said.
The district hopes to streamline their plans in the coming weeks.
Supt. Stephen Murley says the district is already working with health officials on how vaccine rollout will work for teachers.
“It’s going to be first come first serve. If we’re not able to fill the spots, if we have more spots, we’re going to open it up to our transportation carriers because they also need to be vaccinated as well,” Green Bay schools legal counsel Melissa Thiel Collar said.
The board also approved a measure saying administrators will develop criteria for a transition to virtual learning due to COVID-19 transmission in the district’s schools.
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