On February 9, through a unanimous vote, the Board of Education voted to start the phasing in of students for in-person learning starting March 1. This will be a lengthy and strenuous process, however after about a year of strictly virtual learning, many students will be eager to finally return back to their classrooms for some in-person instruction. Although the board has agreed to proceed with in-person learning, not all students will be returned to school buildings at once and will be split into groups to minimize contact. The phase in plan isn’t perfect, but it shows that the county is taking initiative to figure out a way to start returning students back to school safely.
Though March 1 marks the beginning of the in-person phase in process, it will only include some K-12 Special Education and Extension Program students. As stated in a Bethesda Magazine article by Kevin Lowndes, associate superintendent of special education, “These are the students who need the most intense adult support,” which is why the Board has decided that they will be the first to return to the building. “About 500 special education students are included in the March 1st reopening plan,” which is “less than one half of 1 percent of the overall student population.” Though very few students will be included in the March 1 start date of the phase in process, a slow reopening is for the best and demonstrates that measures are being taken to prevent a spike in cases.
March 15 is when MCPS has officially decided to begin its full four-phase reopening plan, geared towards bringing back the rest of MCPS’ 161,000 students. Students are divided into groups based on grade level. Group 1.1 consists of K-3 students, and additional students in CTE programs. Group 1.2 includes Pre-K, grades 4-5, grade 6, and grade 12 students. Group 2.1 includes grades 7 and 9, and group 2.2 includes grades 8, 10, and 11. Prioritizing the integration of MCPS’ younger students back into an in-person learning environment is vital to their success since students in younger grades are being taught skills that will be utilized long throughout their educational career, and lack of mastery of these critical skills can become damaging to their success later on in their academic careers.
This phase-in will consist of A/B rotations. Students will be divided into two groups. Group A students will attend in-person instruction one week, while Group B students will attend virtually. Then the next week, these groups will switch and Group B will attend in-person learning, while Group A goes virtual. Wednesdays will still remain virtual days for all students. Students will also have the option to change from in-person learning to virtual at any time. However, if a student who chose virtual only in the December preference survey wants to transition to in-person, they will be required to submit a request to their school principal. This is good because it still gives students a choice in case they may have changed their minds, as well as the freedom to revert back to virtual learning if they don’t feel safe in the in-person environment.
In regards to the scheduling of the phase in process, the times are definitely not in favor of in-person students. MCPS must make it so that both the schedules for virtual and in-person are aligned, which results in having to compensate for the transportation of in-person students. The problem with this however is that it forces in-person students to arrive approximately an hour prior to their first class, with the exception of elementary school students. The school day for all students will still start at 9:00, but in-person high school students will be expected to arrive at school by 7:45, and middle school students by 8:15, which is clearly not ideal.
Overall, there will definitely be many bumps along the way during the phase in process, whether it be with scheduling, making sure teachers are paying equal attention to their virtual and in-person students, and making sure everyone stays socially distanced and knows where to go. I do however think that given the circumstances and status of the coronavirus, this is the best route to go in order to start safely bringing back students and prepare to eventually have everyone return to school buildings for the 2021-2022 school year.
Article by Alexandra Doncheva of Richard Montgomery High School
Photo by May Pham of Walter Johnson High School