Portsmouth will join other Hampton Roads districts in starting the school year 100% virtually in the fall.
The board hadn’t planned to make a decision until August but decided to finalize plans sooner after Superintendent Elie Bracy said local health conditions driving the decision-making weren’t likely to materially change between now and then.
In light of the region’s rising health cases, Bracy recommended a virtual start for the first quarter.
“We’re in a situation right now where we have to be really cautious and err on the side of safety,” Bracy said.
Portsmouth Health Director Lauren James said remote learning was her department’s recommendation too given the “substantial” transmission in the city.
The unanimous vote by Portsmouth’s School Board means the city will join Norfolk, Chesapeake and Virginia Beach in starting the school year virtually. The rate of positive tests in the city — a key metric epidemiologists have identified as a sign of whether it’s safe to reopen schools — has been the highest of any locality in the region. As of Wednesday, 16.7% of tests in Portsmouth were positive, more than triple the World Health Organizations’ recommended rate.
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Portsmouth started surveying parents and teachers last week on four reopening options that ranged from 100% in-person to 100% virtual, with two hybrid variations that would have brought back some or all students for a portion of the week. The survey is open until August 8, but among those who had taken the survey as of Tuesday, a majority of both groups preferred the fully virtual option, staff said.
Of the roughly 4,500 parents who responded, 68% preferred all-virtual. Among 1,400 staff responses, 67% preferred all-virtual. Like many teachers associations, last week the Portsmouth Education Association’s president wrote to Bracy to say the group’s 560 educator members believed it would be a “critical mistake” to reopen schools now.
“We all want to return to in-person instruction, but decisions about doing so must be guided by science, not by liability, and educators must be involved every step of the way,” association President Gordon Jones wrote.
The board will decide later what to do after the first nine weeks.
Assistant Superintendent Anita Wynn said the district is working to update curriculum and pacing guides to help teachers adjusting to all-online teaching. There will be standard expectations for students across grade levels and subjects and assigned times for students to get online to meet with teachers. Attendance will be taken.
The district will provide laptops to all students, and is exploring using buses as mobile hotspots.
Sara Gregory, 757-469-7484, sara.gregory@pilotonline.com