With COVID cases declining, more Tacoma kids set to return to in-person learning in March
Middle and high school students attending Tacoma Public Schools are scheduled to return for in-person hybrid learning in March.
Grades 3-12 will return in a staggered schedule two days a week in cohorts of A and B. They will continue that schedule through the remainder of the 2020-21 school year.
Officials shared the following timeline with the district’s Board of Directors on Thursday:
3rd grade: March 1
4th grade: March 15
5th grade: March 22
6th grade: March 4
7th grade: March 22
8th grade: March 29
9th grade: March 22
10th and 11th grades: March 29
12th grade: March 15
Currently, kindergarten and first grade students are learning in-person two days a week. Second graders will return two days a week starting Feb. 16.
TPS previously announced that kindergarten students would move to attending in-person learning four days a week on Feb. 16. First graders are scheduled to move to in-person learning four days a week Feb. 22, and second graders on March 1. Wednesdays would be at-home, independent learning.
District officials recognized Thursday evening there’s still concerns about returning to school and that they will work with families to admit their students in the Tacoma Online program if they do not want to return in person.
District officials attributed the return to decreasing COVID-19 case rates.
Pierce County’s 14-day COVID-19 case rate on Thursday was 277.9.per 100,000 people, with a 6-day lag for accuracy. Pierce County is in the “moderate” category of the state Department of Health’s guidance for returning to in-person school. Schools are in the “moderate” category if they are within a county that has a 14-day case rate between 50 and 350 per 100,000 people. Under the category, health officials recommend schools phase in in-person learning, prioritizing grades K-5.
Tacoma Education Association president Shannon Ergun told The News Tribune teachers were notified of the new March dates on Wednesday.
The union previously shared its concerns about the hybrid schedules for middle and high school students, which split class times in the morning and afternoon.
Ergun told The News Tribune the split class times present continual learning and teaching challenges throughout the day.
Ergun said the union presented alternative schedule changes to the district but said she could not elaborate on them because they were under bargaining.
TEA filed a grievance with the district on Monday over the schedule modifications, arguing the district rolled out the modified schedules while they were bargaining over them.
The district said in its bargaining updates on Feb. 7 the topic of schedules had already been discussed during the negotiations that took place for the memorandum of understanding between TPS and TEA.
The district stated on Tuesday it would be “shifting its focus away from bargaining” and follow the grievance process to “resolve any areas where the parties are not in alignment.”
