DC School Year To Start With All-Virtual Classes

WASHINGTON, DC — Although D.C. Public Schools students will be heading back to school on Aug. 31, they won't be returning to their school buildings until at least November at the earliest. DCPS officials confirmed Thursday the first term of the academic year would be conducted virtually.

"We all understand that this school year will require flexibility from everyone," said Deputy Mayor for Education Paul Kihn, during a Thursday press briefing. "With that in mind, we will be moving forward with an all-virtual start to the school year for students in pre-K through the 12th grade through term one until Nov. 6."

Over 17,000 students, families, and staff members completed the an online survey this summer about their preferences for the the start of the 2020-21 academic school year. According to Kihn, an overwhelming majority of respondents wanted DCPS to prioritize the health and safety of its students when deciding how to reopen.

Consistency and predictability in school scheduling, as well as family choice between in-person or virtual learning were the other priorities from the survey DCPS considered in planning how to begin the school year.

"I want to reassure you also, all of the families that said they wanted in-person options and all of the educators who have shared with us their desire to be with and work with the students who needed it the most that we will continue to plan for in-person options for term two," Kihn said.

Dr. Lewis Ferebee, the DCPS chancellor, confirmed that all students receiving special education services or need English language or other types of support will still have access to these services.

"Any student with an individualized education plan will have a distance-learning addendum added to their IEP," Ferebee said.

At the end of the last school year, DCPS began distributing devices to students and continued doing so for those receiving summer instruction or who were participating in the summer employment program. Those students will be able to continue to use those devices when school begins.

However, the majority of respondents (44 percent) to DCPS' technology survey said they did not have access to a device. Families who still need a device or internet access are encouraged to call their school to let them know about their technology needs or fill out the DCPS technology survey as soon as possible.

"We understand the concerns families and our communities have about access to technology," Kihn said. "In fact, we share those concerns because we understand the reality of inequality in our city. That is, in large part, what makes me concerned about having students out of the classroom months at a time."

During the press briefing, Kihn said all students were expected to participate in school once the academic year begins.

"Let me be extremely clear about what we're announcing today," he said. "School is in session and I want to remind everyone that schooling is compulsory. We've worked very hard with the Office of the State of Education on the new ways that we're going to track and monitor attendance. We're doing that across all LEAs [Location Education Agencies] and every public school in the city. Attendance will be taken in this virtual posture as well."

Kihn also confirmed that DCPS was coordinating its planning with all of the LEAs, which operate the city's charter schools.

"We are really approaching the current situation — the pandemic and its impact on education — as one public education system in the city in a collegial manner," he said, adding that many charter LEAs would be announcing their plans in the next few days.

Thursday's announcement came two weeks after Mayor Muriel Bowser postponed a decision on whether DCPS would begin the school with in-person learning. At that time, she said she was delaying the decision to allow the D.C. Health Department to monitor the spread of COVID-19, the illness associated with the new coronavirus.

"There are a lot things that a system the size of DCPS has to consider when making these decisions, including staffing, including parent confidence, including the facilities' availability," she said, on Thursday. "We feel very strongly that we have a plan to have all of our facilities with the safety and health infrastructure. ... And we feel very strongly that those things can be ready on the timeline that we need them to be ready [for the second term]."

The second term for DCPS students is scheduled to begin on Monday, Nov. 9.

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