Prince William Schools To Reopen Virtually For Most Students

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, VA — Most Prince William County students will begin the new school year school with 100-percent virtual instruction under a plan approved unanimously by the school board. The board's decision was announced early Thursday morning.

The Prince William County School Board unanimously adopted what they called the "Return to Learn" plan. Under the plan, the first quarter will begin for students on Sept. 8 and will end on Oct. 30, with the goal being to transition to a 50-percent capacity model in the second quarter. The option will remain for students to continue 100-percent virtual learning in the second quarter.

The final vote on the motion to reopen schools for the 2020-2021 came more than six hours after the school board's 7 p.m. meeting began.

Under the plan, Prince William County schools will consider offering in-person services to special education students and to the most vulnerable English language learners and students with interrupted learning.

The school board appeared to be heading toward adopting a “hybrid” model that would have allowed students to attend school twice a week, with 100-percent virtual learning as an option. But the hybrid model ended up not receiving a majority of support Wednesday night.

In its place, a new proposal for virtual instruction for the first quarter was introduced, with plans for the hybrid model beginning in the second quarter. The new proposal received unanimous support from the school board.

The decision came following a vote by the Manassas School Board on Tuesday to limit instruction to virtual learning for the start of the school year. Arlington County schools are also planning to begin the year with only online learning.

Loudoun County and Fairfax County schools, on the other hand, will begin the year with a hybrid learning model. In Loudoun, the hybrid format will allow students to attend school in-person two days a week and three days at home using distance learning. Parents uncomfortable with sending their children to school buildings can choose 100-percent distance learning for their children.

The Fairfax County School Board voted to give parents of schoolchildren a similar option: full-time online instruction and blended instruction. In Fairfax County, the blended instruction choice includes at least two full days of in-person instruction per week. The remainder of the week would include independent study and virtual work.

In a work session on July 8, the Prince William County School Board reached consensus to move forward with the "50-percent model," in which most students would attend school in-person two days a week and participate in virtual learning three days a week.

But opinions of some members changed over the past week. "I don't think we are ready to start the 50-50 plan as of right now," Prince William school board member Adele Jackson said Wednesday night.

Prince William County serves a high percentage of Black and Latino students. Members of these communities are dying at higher rates from COVID-19 across Virginia than white populations, school board member noted at the meeting.