Albion schools announce plan to bring students back for in-person classes 4 days a week

Photo by Tom Rivers: The walkway to the Albion Middle School is pictured in May 2016 while the trees are in bloom in front a Vietnam Memorial.

ALBION — The school district will be welcoming back students for four days of in-person classes next month.

The district will move away from a hybrid model where students have been in-person for two days a week, and doing remote learning for three other days. The district will continue to do remote learning on Wednesdays. The two-day hybrid model will no longer be offered. Students need to either do the four days of in-person learning or be fully remote.

Mickey Edwards, the district superintendent, posted a letter on the district website today, announcing the change with more in-person days for students.

“With the number of Covid-19 cases decreasing across the region and with many of our faculty/staff receiving the vaccine, our plan is to begin expanding our hybrid learning model,” Edwards said in his letter.

The district wants to give all students the chance for in-person learning. However, the first priority is maintaining a safe learning environment, Edwards said. Initially, the district will focus on accommodating students who are currently hybrid learners, and moving them to four days of in-person learning. Students who are currently fully remote will have the option of switching to hybrid at the end of the 10-week marking period.

The district will transition students back to four days of in-person learning in phases. The tentative schedule includes:

• Phase 1: April 12-13 for grades K-2, 6, and 9-10
• Phase 2: April 14 will continue to be a remote day only
• Phase 3: April 15 for grades K-4, 6, 7, and 9-12
• Phase 4: April 16 will be grades K-5, 6-8, and 9-12 (all hybrid students return)

Students will be required to wear masks nearly the entire day, with designated times for mask breaks, Edwards said.

“We recognize that social distancing may not always be possible and, in those cases, we will be implementing the use of clear plastic barriers to separate students,” Edwards wrote in his letter.

The district will also be taking students’ temperatures upon entry in the school buildings, and all other Covid safety practices and procedures will continue, Edwards said.