Berkeley school officials announced late Monday that elementary-age kids could be back in classrooms five days a week by the end of the month.
The news came as a surprise to parents who had been told the hybrid learning models under consideration would only bring students back to campuses part time.
“We’re happy to share that ... we expect to be able to offer elementary school families the option to return their students to a five-day schedule of on-campus learning,” Berkeley Unified School District Superintendent Brent Stephens wrote in an email message to families.
In a statement, Berkeley Federation of Teachers President Matt Meyer said the union and district have not reached a formal agreement on the matter, but added, “We are excited that we have agreed on a framework to bring elementary students back five days a week.”
Berkeley parent Sarah Bowles said she felt "tremendous relief" for her two children.
"They need to have access to a larger world than just our home," she said. "They need those social experiences to grow up to be happy, successful people.”
Bowles is eager to see a full return to in-person instruction for older students, too. “That’s absolutely critical for our kids,” she said.
But parent Lizet Lopez is worried that a big change like this at the end of the year could create further disruption for her kids, who are in transitional kindergarten and third grade, because of uncertainty over who their teachers would be.
The district has consistently said hybrid learning could require some reassignments to match students with teachers, depending on which students and teachers return to campus and which stay in remote learning.
“That’s starting all over to get to know the new teacher,” Lopez said.
Lopez says her youngest daughter is having an especially difficult time with distance learning, but safety concerns still have her hesitating about sending her back in person.
“You still don’t know if all the teachers are going to have the vaccine, as well as the parents,” Lopez said. “There’s a lot of people who don’t want or trust the vaccine. So that’s why I’m on the edge on going back or not.”
Parents have until Thursday to decide if they’ll send their kids back or keep them in distance learning for the rest of the year, and they won’t be able to change their minds, according to the superintendent’s message. Lopez says it's frustrating that the district is giving families so little time to think it through.
The reopening timeline agreed to by the district and teachers union calls for vaccinating teachers through a deal with the city and bringing back students up to second grade in late March, with the third grade through high schools returning from mid-to-late April.
The details of the on-campus five-day model, including schedules, campus logistics and transportation options for each school, still need to be worked out.
At the middle and high school levels, current plans call for students to continue distance learning until noon each day. Two days per week, students could come to classrooms around 1 p.m. for instruction, with an option to stay for academic and social activities later in the afternoon.