BOISE, Idaho — The Boise School District will begin allowing students to return to the classroom for in-person learning later this month, beginning with the youngest children.
The move comes after Central District Health moved Ada County schools from the red level to the yellow level in terms of the spread of coronavirus.
The district's phased plan will begin Sept. 21, with the goal of having all students back to five-day-a-week in-person instruction by Nov. 9. Administrators will notify parents about the specific schedules for each school beginning Friday.
The district has the return to school plan broken down into four phases.
In Phase 1, Pre-K through second-grade students, along with special education students, will be allowed to return on an alternating schedule, with three days of remote instruction and two days of in-class learning.
Phase 2 will expand that group to students in Pre-K through sixth grade, remaining on the alternating day schedule, while Phase 3 will expand the alternating schedule to all students from PRe-K through seniors in high school. Phase 4 will see all students back to five-day-a-week in-person classes.
Those students who will have enrolled in Boise Online School will not be affected.
District officials say decisions about how quickly each school moves through the phases will be made after careful consideration and will depend on guidance from Central District Health and medical professionals, the ability of schools to adhere to safety protocols, and the impact of quarantine on staff and students due to positive COVID-19 cases.
"We are excited that our community's collective efforts have worked to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 and Central District Health has placed us in Category 2 (yellow) and we can begin to implement our phased plan to get students back safely in our schools," Boise School District Superintendent Coby Dennis said. "Of course, we are hopeful everyone will continue to implement the basic precautions that have helped so far. Please, everyone, keep washing your hands, practicing social distancing and wearing your masks."
At KTVB, we’re focusing our news coverage on the facts and not the fear around the virus. To see our full coverage, visit our coronavirus section, here: www.ktvb.com/coronavirus.
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