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Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam declared today during a press conference that public schools in Virginia will reopen for the fall and spring semesters as part of a phased-in approach with specific guidelines designed to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
“The school experience will look very different,” Northam said. “These phases will allow in-person instruction, but slowly. . . we’ll allow each school division the flexibility it needs to respond to the needs of its own locality.
“Resuming in-person instruction is a high priority, but we must do so in a safe, responsible, and equitable manner that minimizes the risk of exposure to the virus and meets the needs of the Virginia students who have been disproportionately impacted by lost classroom time.”
The phased reopening of schools will lead to the gradual re-establishment of in-person learning while keeping the student body safe, Superintendent of Public Instruction James Lane said. According to Lane, Phase 1 begins immediately for all school districts and permits certain in-person activities for special education students and child care for working families, with all other instruction remaining virtual.
Social distancing of at least 6 feet will be enforced in classrooms and buses, and protective masks will not be required in areas where social distancing is applicable.
Before districts may enter Phase 2, they must provide plans to the Virginia Department of Education outlining how they intend to operate in person while keeping students safe. The second phase will allow in-person learning for students in preschool through third grade and English as a Second Language students.
The third phase would allow all students to return in person but would keep social distancing requirements in place and limit large group gatherings, such as the type that might otherwise occur in cafeterias during lunch, for example.
“The Department of Education has produced Recover, Redesign, Restart – a nearly 126-page guide that will go to school divisions today and will be posted online that schools can use to assist in their planning for opening schools under these phases,” Lane said.
Clark Mercer, Northam’s chief of staff and a former high school soccer coach, said youth sports will begin again under competitively in the third phase; they’ll be allowed in practice settings only during Phase 2.
But there will be guidelines there, too. For example, ice skating rinks may reopen, while ice dancing will not be permitted, and certain other practices, such as sharing of team helmets, also will be prohibited, Mercer said.
“Those are the things we need to be thinking about when our children are back out playing sports,” Mercer said.
More information about Phase 2 and schools reopening will be discussed Thursday, Northam said.
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