VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - Tuesday, Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VBCPS) leaders discussed the plan of bringing more kids back to school this week.
The district's superintendent, Dr. Aaron Spence, recommended moving forward with their plan to bring back more secondary Option 1 students for in-person instruction starting this Thursday, Nov. 12.
“We don't appear to be the source or spreading of the virus, and our mitigations appear to be working,” Spence said during a workshop Tuesday.
In a letter sent to families and staff, school officials said, “While schedules will remain the same for our pre-K – sixth grade students, all other students will return to school on a hybrid model, including current ninth graders.”
The schedule for students will be below:
Elementary School
- All pre-K – fifth grade students will continue with their current schedule (Option 1 and 2)
Middle School*
- Sixth grade students who chose Option 1 will continue reporting to school for in-person learning Tuesday thru Friday.
- Seventh grade students (Option 1) will attend school face to face Tuesday and Wednesday each week, and they will continue with remote learning Monday, Thursday and Friday.
- Eighth grade students (Option 1) will attend school face to face Thursday and Friday each week, and they will continue with remote learning Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
- Option 2 Middle School students will continue with remote learning Monday – Friday.
High School*
- High school will bring back all Option 1 students in grades 9-12 with last names starting with “A” through “K” Tuesday and Wednesday each week. These students will continue with remote learning Monday, Thursday and Friday.
- High school will bring back all Option 1 students in grades 9-12 with last names starting with “L” through “Z” Thursday and Friday each week, and they will continue with remote learning Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
- Option 2 High School students will continue with remote learning Monday – Friday.
This comes after parents were notified earlier this week of seven separate cases impacting different schools.
VBCPS officials said local health officials reviewed current health metric data and their current plan of bringing students back.
“They communicated that they did not view our current health metrics data at a level that warranted a pause in our current school plan,” one VBCPS official said.
Leaanne Gracia said she’s looking forward to her son getting back to the classroom.
“We're probably going to love it,” Gracia said. “I'm seeing the effects of the kids that are out of school, and I definitely think the risks are lower than the benefits to the kids.
Meanwhile, Kara Hughes is concerned of kids returning with the holidays around the corner.
“We gather more, and regardless of how much people will tell us to distance and space appropriately, or wear masks, we want to hug and see our family members, and it kind of goes out the window despite our best efforts,” Hughes said.
Spence said communication will be important.
“We are a reflection of our community,” Spence said. “We are concerned as we head into the holidays about what that might mean. There are appropriate steps that our community can take to help mitigate the spread of this disease in our community, and we're going to be communicating about that and talking about that.”
