Denver Public Schools plans to expand in-person learning for middle and high school students after spring break, following other districts in the metro area that are working to bring older kids back full-time before the end of the semester.
Michael Ramirez, deputy superintendent of schools, said in a board of education meeting Thursday the goal is to operate secondary schools “as close to full strength as possible” after students return from spring break on April 5.
To do so, the district will be making several changes to how schools currently operate, including increasing the cap on class sizes from 17 to 35 kids and removing the limit on how many cohorts a teacher can interact with during the day. The district will require a minimum of three feet between students and adults in each respective classroom.
“We’ve had many discussions with Denver Health and our current understanding is that the logic behind cohorts really has faded,” Ramirez said. “This shift in rationale is shifting because of our increased understanding of transmission and how to mitigate it through masking and distancing and continued evidence that the spread of COVID in schools is still very rare.”
DPS also plans to expand extracurricular activities, such as drama, chess and debate. Extracurriculars should take place outside when possible since these classes are likely to mix student cohorts, the district’s guidance said.
Officials said they expect all teachers to be vaccinated by the end of spring break, which will offer more flexibility in scheduling — and hopefully cause fewer disruptions — in secondary schools.
Interim Superintendent Dwight Jones acknowledged there are still challenges to overcome before the end of the semester. Staffing, for one, has been an obstacle since the start of the pandemic and Jones hopes to bring back more teachers currently conducting remote classes to bolster on-campus operations.
Though teachers will be vaccinated, students will not — there are no COVID-19 vaccines approved for use in children — so onsite safety measures remain paramount, Jones said.
“We know that transmission for some of our older students can be similar to adult transmission, so we also have to think of safety and wellbeing of our students as we start to bring students back,” Jones said. “That’s why we are taking the precautions that we’re taking and making sure we’re doing it in the right way.”
DPS is the latest and the largest district to announce plans to increase in-person learning for middle and high school students.
Jeffco Public Schools, the state’s second-largest district, will also welcome back all secondary students for face-to-face instruction four days a week on April 5. That has some teachers worried about a possible spike should families travel over the break or for Easter.
“Why are we not giving a two-week buffer after what could be a spike after those holidays?” said Amanda Waterhouse, a teacher at Dunstan Middle School in Lakewood.
Waterhouse was one of about a dozen teachers who took the day off Wednesday to protest Jeffco’s decision. The group met at district headquarters in Golden and staged a mock classroom using ropes and masked stuffed animals to demonstrate how little room there is for social distancing in full capacity classrooms.
“A lot of teachers don’t have individual desks for students, they have tables. I have a mix of desks and tables, but I’m going to have at least 10 kids sitting elbow to elbow. No plastic, no encouraging of double masks,” said Jamie de Leon, another teacher at Dunstan.
Public health experts have said it is “very low risk” to bring back secondary students full-time given the current COVID-19 conditions. Despite that, one district, 27J Schools, announced Thursday it would not change its hybrid learning format, which it touted as “the most consistent, safe and nurturing environment” for learning.
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March 05, 2021 at 07:46AM
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Denver Public Schools plans to reopen middle, high schools “as close to full strength as possible” after spring break - The Denver Post
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