Major US school districts reopen despite spread of more contagious and lethal COVID-19 variants
Across the US, numerous school districts began reopening Monday in a reckless move that will exacerbate the spread of COVID-19. Over the past month and, in particular, following the February 10 betrayal by the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), the corporate media, both big business parties and the teachers unions have conspired to send millions of children into classrooms at the most dangerous stage of the pandemic. The Democratic Party has spearheaded this campaign, with local and state officials implementing Biden’s goal of fully reopening the majority of K-8 schools by the end of April.
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AFT Pennsylvania President Arthur Steinberg (center) joins Mayor Jim Kenney (left) and schools Superintendent William Hite to announce a plan for reopening some Philadelphia school buildings. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
Updated 3:39 p.m.
Philadelphia school officials and union leaders have reached a compromise that will allow some schools to reopen their buildings on March 8 roughly a year after the district last welcomed students into classrooms.
The deal, announced Monday, calls for pre-K through grade 2 students at 53 elementary schools to attend classes in-person twice a week, if they choose.
The School District of Philadelphia had planned to reopen 152 schools in February in its first phase of in-person learning. School officials and the union agreed that more schools will become eligible for in-person learning on a weekly, rolling basis until all pre-K to second-grade classes have returned. Announcements will be made each Monday.
The district and teachers union are expected to issue a joint announcement Monday providing new details on the school reopening plan.
About 9,000 pre-K through second grade students have been waiting to begin a hybrid learning model. They initially were expected to head back in November, but their return has been pushed back several times. We realize that the uncertainty surrounding the safe reopenings of our school buildings has been unsettling and inconvenient for many families, and that you would prefer to know details today, Superintendent William Hite wrote Thursday in a message to families. What I can share today is that there are still some important details that are being worked out, and we want to have those details finalized so we can announce the full phase-in plan for PreK-2 hybrid learning students at one time.
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A window fan in a classroom at Nebinger elementary school. Such fans are being used for ventilation in 32 Philadelphia schools. (Dale Mezzacappa/Chalkbeat)
This story originally appeared on Chalkbeat Philadelphia.
Big cities across the nation, from Boston to New York to Chicago, have managed to hammer out differences between their school districts and teachers’ unions over the gradual reopening of schools.
In Philadelphia, not so much.
Here, school buildings have been closed for nearly a year. A mediation process between the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers and the district has dragged for weeks, delaying the district’s planned opening of schools for some prekindergarten through second grade students until March 1. Teachers refused to re-enter buildings on Feb. 8 to prepare, choosing to protest outside their schools instead.
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