Milwaukee school board approves plan to reopen schools
Milwaukee Public School Board unanimously approved a plan to begin the phased reopening of schools at their board meeting last Tuesday. The plan allows for 300 special needs students and their teachers to voluntarily return to in-person instruction on February 8. Further, it sets tentative return dates in mid-April for roughly 4,300 teachers and 75,000 students.
Under the proposal, 23,000 Pre-Kindergarten through 2nd grade students will return on April 12, 32,000 3rd through 8th graders on April 19, and finally 19,000 high school students will return on April 26. A similar tiered reopening schedule was utilized in Chicago and other districts to divide educators and attempt to stifle opposition. In Chicago, Pre-Kindergarten and Special Education teachers were ordered back into the classroom on January 4th while the rest of the district is remote.