UPDATED: Prince William schools to reopen with virtual instruction for most students

Board votes to transition to 50% in-person model after first quarter

UPDATED: Most Prince William County students will begin school with 100% virtual instruction -- at least for the first quarter of the year -- under a plan approved unanimously by the school board early Thursday.

The final vote on the motion to reopen schools for the 2020-21 school year came at 1:47 a.m., more than six hours after the school board's 7 p.m. meeting began.

The move came after a vote to reopen schools with a "50% model" failed in a tie vote. That plan would have allowed students to attend school two days a week in person and work remotely the other three.

The school board decided, however, to allow the division's most vulnerable students -- those who need certain kinds of special education instruction and those who are in the beginning stages of learning English -- to attend school in person from the start of the school year, which will begin Tuesday, Sept. 8.

...

School Board member Justin Wilk (Potomac) made a motion earlier in the meeting to direct school division staff to continue planning for the 50% model with the intent to reopening schools with in-person instruction two days a week if local health conditions allow it.

Wilk said he felt strongly that schools should at least continue planning for in-person instruction if the long-term goal is to get students back into the classroom.

...

School Board members voting in favor of opening schools under the 50% plan included Wilk, Board Chairman Dr. Babur Lateef (At Large), Jen Wall (Gainesville) and Diane Raulston (Neabsco).

After the motion failed in a tie vote, Lateef introduced the alternate plan -- to begin the school year with mostly virtual instruction and transition to the 50% plan in the second quarter -- as a compromise. The first quarter will end on Oct. 30, according to a school division press release.

...

The 50% model would ensure only three feet of social distancing between students and staff -- instead of the 6 feet recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  Because of space limitations and general overcrowding in many of the county's schools, it would not be possible to have 50% of most schools' students in the school buildings and ensure 6 feet of distance between students and staff, Superintendent Steven Walts said during the board's July 8 work session.

School board members voting against reopening schools under the 50% plan included School Board members Lillie Jessie (Occoquan), Vice Chair Loree Williams (Woodbridge), Adele Jackson (Brentsville) and Lisa Zargarpur (Coles).

Of those board members, three are educators. Zargarpur is an elementary school music teacher in Fairfax County; Jackson is a former special education teacher; and Jessie is a retired principal.

All said they saw merit in the plan and want to see children back in schools eventually. But they insisted that the school division is not yet ready to ensure the safety of all students and staff under the 50% model.

...

(... Indicates paragraphs were eliminated to reduce volume in this quiz.)