Phased Return For Some Students To Be Recommended In Alexandria

ALEXANDRIA, VA — On Thursday, Superintendent Gregory Hutchings Jr. will present several recommendations to the school board related to return of in-person learning for some students at Alexandria City Public Schools.

The school district has been operating with a Virtual PLUS+ model due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic. But certain groups of students would start to return at different times under the superintendent's recommendations.

The first proposal calls for a phased-in approach to bring back the most vulnerable students with disabilities. These students would be sent to Jefferson-Houston Prek-8 International Baccalaureate School.

The school district would begin with the students with disabilities in kindergarten to second grade on Nov. 5, expand to grades third to fifth on Nov. 17, and ECSE students and students who receive self-contained language arts and math instruction in kindergarten through fifth grade on Nov. 30. The estimated number of students is 60 in kindergarten to second grade, 55 in third to fifth grade, 125 ECSE students, and about 175 in self-contained language arts and math.

The second recommendation involves a phased-in plan to bring back vulnerable English Learner students. That would start with grades kindergarten to fifth, beginning in January through the third quarter. In addition, staff would be asked to develop a plan to identify additional grade and English language proficiency levels to phase in based on an enrollment, capacity and instructional model.

Another proposal geared toward January and the third quarter would be designing Teaching and Learning Centers for students in kindergarten through fifth grade to open in the third quarter. Students would be centralized at west and east end locations, potentially at middle schools due to larger classrooms. That process would include a poll of staff to determine returns in alignment with the prioritized grade levels.

Lastly, ACPS would develop a plan to provide a virtual learning option for families choosing not to return to in-person learning for the foreseeable future.

The recommendations come as ACPS releases findings of recent surveys on Virtual PLUS+. The three surveys, sent to families, staff and students, were conducted from Sept. 25 and Oct. 4 to seek feedback on improving Virtual PLUS+ and next steps to transition back to school. There were estimated response rates of 48 percent of families (7,439 responses), 55 percent of students (5,952 responses), and 77 percent of staff (2,060 responses). ACPS noted family responses were not representative of the Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino and English Learner student populations. The student survey had underrepresentation of Hispanic/Latino, English learner and disabled students.

The survey found 80 percent of families were satisfied with academic support and instructional resources, while 77 percent of staff and 83 percent of students said the same. Satisfaction with emotional and social report was at 75 percent for families and staff, and 78 percent for students. The biggest challenges for all three groups this school year appeared to be screen time.

There were 64 percent of families and 56 percent of staff who said they were either very likely or somewhat likely to return to school or work. Among staff, 32 percent said they had a documented health issue, 28 percent said a household member has a documented health issue, and 24 percent have child care needs for school-age children. The survey also provides breakdowns of results by race and ethnicity, students in special programs, grade band, and individual school.

A comprehensive update of the ACPS continuity of learning plan will be provided at Thursday's school board meeting. More information is available on the school board agenda.