In-Person Learning Plan Delayed For Alexandria City Schools

ALEXANDRIA, VA — On Monday, Alexandria City Public Schools announced it was delaying the start of the return to school plan.

The plan called for the first group of students to return on Jan. 19. The revised timeline now identifies Jan. 26 as the targeted date for students with disabilities in kindergarten to second grade enrolled in the Citywide Special Education program and opt into in-person learning. These self-contained students are students with intellectual disabilities, Autism, Multiple Disabilities or Emotional Disabilities

The Jan. 26 return could be expanded to students with disabilities in third to fifth grade in the Citywide Special Education program, early childhood special education students, students with disabilities in kindergarten to second grade with self-contained Language Arts and Math instruction, and English learners in grades PreK to fifth grade.

The next tentative return date is Feb. 2 for students with disabilities in sixth to 12th grade enrolled in the Citywide Special Education program and English learners in sixth to 12th grade. The remaining students in PreK to fifth grade who opt into in-person learning would return on Feb. 9, and remaining students who choose in-person learning would return on Feb. 16.

These tentative dates are contingent upon staffing and building capacity.

ACPS cited health metrics and school impacts in the decision to delay returning the first students with disabilities. Officials will continue to reassess the situation and let families know the latest decisions for returning students to school buildings.

"Due to our current community transmission levels and school impact level, we have made the decision to delay the transition of Students With Disabilities in grades K-2 a part of our Citywide Program on Jan. 19 using our decision matrix," ACPS states on its website. "This will mean that the groups set to return on Jan. 19 will return with the group scheduled to return on Jan. 26."

The school district uses three core metrics recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for reopening decisions. One core indicator is the number of cases over the last 14 days per 100,000 people. As of Tuesday, the rate for Alexandria is 563.5 cases per 100,000 people, labeled as having the highest risk for community transmission in schools. The threshold for highest risk of transmission is 200 cases per 100,000 people, according to the CDC.

For the second core indicator, the percentage of positive PCR tests in the last 14 days, Alexandria's average is 11.3 percent as of Tuesday. This is also labeled as having the highest risk for community transmission in schools. The threshold for highest risk is a positive rate above 10 percent.

The third core indicator cannot be measured by health data but rather by schools themselves. The CDC recommends five key mitigation strategies: consistent and correct use of masks, social distancing to the largest extent possible, hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette, cleaning and disinfection and contact tracing in collaboration with the local health department.