BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Public School District is about a month away from returning to in-person learning for some grade levels. And the district would like to hear from families by Friday on whether they plan to opt-out of in-person learning.
The district prepares to move to a hybrid model for some grade levels on February 1. But that Friday deadline has some wiggle room.
"That’s a soft deadline for the district to kind of get a sense on how many parents may be returning their students and how many are going to need bus transportation," said Buffalo School Board Member Larry Scott.
A spokesperson for the district says school administrators have been and will continue to reach out to families after Friday on whether they plan to opt out or not.
Come February 1, schools will start offering hybrid learning to high need students, grades pre-K to second grade and seniors.
Other grade levels could be phased in after that, depending on COVID data.
"I'm very concerned about our families and our students not having any options for in-person support since March," said Jessica Bauer, president of the BPS Community Health Worker Parent Association. "So I think if we’re following public health guidance and there’s an opportunity to get students back in buildings — for both academic and social, emotional and basic needs supports — that we should be exploring that."
Even with a limited number of students physically attending school, bussing kids across the city remains a concern.
"It’s an expansive type of system for us to bus our children to schools and do it safely now we will have fewer numbers of students that are going to be returning because of the way we’re phasing in that hybrid model, but it’s still a hefty lift, a high lift," Scott said.
"The agency that our nurses are from have already been doing this in other districts providing testing in other districts so they should be trained and ready to go when the time comes," Scott said.
The Buffalo Teachers Union is doing a survey of teachers to get their thoughts on the return of in-person learning.
More details of the district’s plan should be released in a virtual school board meeting next Wednesday.
