BOSTON (WHDH) - The state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education has released its timeline for returning students to classrooms across the state after Education Commissioner Jeff Riley was granted emergency authority to reopen schools for in-person learning.
In a message Tuesday to superintendents, charter school Leaders, and leaders of collaboratives, Riley announced that hybrid and remote learning models for elementary schools (K-5) would no longer count toward meeting the required student learning time hours effective Monday, April 5.
Hybrid and remote learning models for middle schoolers (grades 6-8) will no longer count toward meeting the required student learning time hours effective Wednesday, April 28.
State education officials will announce the details and timing of the high school phase of the plan in April. Districts will be provided with at least two weeks in advance of the date for high school students to return to full-time, in-person instruction.
The announcement comes after the board voted 8-3 on March 5 to grant Riley the power to decide when hybrid and remote models will no longer count toward required student learning time hours.
Parents will continue to have the option of keeping their kids remote.
As of last month, nearly 80 percent of Bay State school districts were providing at least some in-person instruction to students through an in-person or hybrid model.
President Joe Biden told states to prioritize vaccinating all teachers before the end of March.
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