The state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has released guidelines and guidance for local school districts to return to full-time in-person learning next month.
Under the plan, elementary school students in grades K-5 will return to full-time in-person beginning April 5. Middle school students (grades 6-8) will return full-time, in-person on April 28.
Details on the full-time in-person return of high school students will be unveiled in April, with local districts receiving at least two weeks’ notice.
Before students in each group return, local districts will survey parents to determine their choice for children to return full-time in-person or remain remote. Parents do have the option to have their children learn remotely if they have done so since the beginning of the school year.
Under its health and safety protocols for full-time in-person return, the state is recommending a three-foot distance between students and mandating that all students and staff wear masks at all grade levels unless there is a medical or behavioral exception granted. Fall River School Superintendent Matthew Malone is working on a plan based on student distances of six feet.
The state will entertain waiver requests from communities, but only in cases where the entire district has been fully remote since the beginning of the school year. In those instances, communities will be asked to adopt a hybrid learning model first before transitioning to full-time in-person learning.
Currently, plans for the new school year in the fall call for all grades to return full-time, in-person.
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