RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia schools will be reopening in the fall, and Governor Ralph Northam said the plan to reopen them is aligned with the phases of reopening Virginia as a whole.
Governor Ralph Northam announced a three-phase approach for how schools will move out of remote education and usher students back into the norm.
In Phase One, most instruction will remain virtual, with the exception of instruction for special education students and childcare for working families.
In Phase Two, the phase which most of Virginia entered on May 29, schools can start offering in-person instruction for Pre-K students through third-grade students only, students with disabilities, and English language learners. They also can offer summer camps in school buildings.
Phase Three finally brings a shift to in-person instruction for all students, but with stringent, physical distancing guidelines in place.
State leaders and education officials say schools will have to stagger class schedules, space out desks, restrict mixing groups of students, stagger the use of communal spaces, and require face coverings in most settings.
However, high-risk students, staff, and faculty will continue teleworking and remote instruction.
Beyond Phase Three, school divisions will resume “new-normal” operations under future guidance.
Sports also will resume with new measures in place.
Northam said school divisions will have discretion as to how they choose to operate within each phase and may choose to offer more limited in-person options than the phase permits, if local public health conditions necessitate.
Entry into each phase is dependent on public health gating criteria, corresponding with the Forward Virginia plan. School divisions will have the flexibility to implement plans based on the needs of their localities, within the parameters of the Commonwealth’s guidance.
These suggested guidelines come as the officials 2019-2020 school year comes to a full close. Governor Northam ordered that all schools would have to close on March 23 and ended up extending the closures to the end of the year.
Following Northam's announcement on Monday, Virginia Beach Schools superintendent Dr. Aaron Spence said in a message to parents, "based on the governor’s recommendations, ... we can proceed with our plan for what we’ve referred to as Scenario 2, which will involve a combination of virtual and face-to-face instruction."
Spence added that families will receive a survey later this week for feedback that school officials can use to help finalize plans.
