Elementary, Middle School Students Expected Back Next Month

State education officials expect both elementary and middle school students to be back in class full-time by next month, according to a memo from Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Jeff Riley.

Students in grades K-5 must be back in-person five days a week by April 5, while middle schoolers need to be back by April 28. The plans for high school students won't be announced until April. Districts are encouraged to bring students back earlier if possible.

Looking ahead, the state expects full in-person learning across all grade levels by the fall.

The memo, posted online Tuesday afternoon by the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, said other learning models would no longer count toward the required structured learning time. Districts would need to make up the balance of the time during the school year, over the summer or even next school year.

Riley said districts can apply for a waiver. He also said families can continue remote learning through the school year if they choose — districts are expected to survey families on what learning model they want as soon as possible.

Board of Elementary and Secondary Education last week granted Riley the power to determine which learning models counted learning time requirements.

Chapter 70 funds districts heavily rely on are tied to the learning time hours.

"With recent significant improvements in COVID-19 health metrics, rigorous implementation of key mitigation strategies, and weekly pooled testing up and running for students and school staff across the commonwealth, more districts and schools have already started to bring more students back, especially at the elementary level," the memo read.

The memo also noted that DESE has long said 3 feet of physical distance is safe when other mitigation protocols are followed. Many districts are still shaping their classrooms around 6 feet of physical distance, limiting the number of students they can bring back.

Gov. Charlie Baker and state education officials have been aggressive in trying to get children back in school full-time, but Baker only this week is allowing teachers to sign up for vaccination appointments — and even that announcement only came after President Joe Biden implored states to get teachers inoculated.

Even in the unlikely event most teachers are able to book highly sought-after vaccination appointments for next week, they wouldn't be fully vaccinated until late April. Some teachers may be able to receive the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccines, but a significant amount of those vaccines aren't expected until late this month.