Superintendent Scott Brabrand presented a plan to return all students who opted to go back to the school building by February. The plan included a new concurrent model for learning and dates for all students to return to the school building.
Students will return to school in phases, with high schoolers potentially entering their buildings as early as February, pending board approval. The School Board already approved some groups of students, including those with severe disabilities and younger elementary school children, to go back to school in mid-November.
“Other countries are finding a way, and other school districts across the country are working together collaboratively with teachers, principals, parents, and their community in returning to school,” Brabrand said. “COVID is here for the long haul, and we have to figure out how we at [FCPS] are going to live with COVID.”
Students who opted to return will learn through concurrent instruction, where roughly half the class is present with the teacher while the other half watches the lesson from home as they would in virtual learning. This model includes two days of in-person learning and two-days online.
“We cannot go months and years without having our students return to school,” Brabrand said. “Our kids need to be back in school and be in their routines as much as possible, but we need to make sure we’re doing it in a manner that’s as safe as possible.”