SEATTLE — Some students in Washington state's largest school district will return to the classroom Monday after nearly a full school year of remote learning due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Seattle Public Schools (SPS) will welcome kindergarten through fifth-grade students back for in-person learning on Monday, along with students in sixth through 12th grade who are enrolled in Special Education Intensive Service Pathways.
All other secondary students will return to the classroom on April 19.
SPS reached a tentative agreement with the Seattle Education Association (SEA), the union representing teachers, last week to bring students back.
The agreement includes four full days of instruction, according to a joint release from the union and the district.
Four mornings per week, secondary students will receive synchronous remote learning. In the afternoons, students will be offered remote and in-person small group and individual instruction. K-8 schools are the exception and will determine if sixth- through eighth-grade students will receive in-person instruction in the mornings or afternoons.
Wednesdays will continue to be completely remote. Families who want to remain in remote learning can choose to do so for the remainder of the year.
The tentative agreement for secondary student instruction on April 19 is subject to approval by the union members and the school board.
The agreement comes after Gov. Jay Inslee mandated all Washington students must be offered some form of in-person learning by April 19, and kindergartners through sixth-grade students must have the option by April 5.