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Students prioritized for in-person learning include:

• English learners who have an ELD Level of 1 or 2 in high-intensity literacy training, or for whom graduation requirements and time to complete both English as a Second Language and content level classes are shorter than other grade levels.
• Students with limited or interrupted formal education
• Students with disabilities in inclusion classrooms with high needs, as defined by the PL3 in the student’s IEP
• Students with disabilities who learn in substantially separate classrooms
• Students who are experiencing homelessness
• Students in the care of the Department of Children and Families
• Students who attend special education public day schools (McKinley, Carter, Horace Mann)

October 1 - All students prioritized for in-person learning start two days a week

• group B begins on October 1 and 2 (Thursday/Friday)
• group A begins on October 5 and 6 (Monday/Tuesday)

October 13* - Groups A and B increase to 4 days of in-person learning (based on choice and availability)

*Monday, October 12 is a State Holiday

Supt. Cassellius sent a letter to families August 21, 2020

This letter explains the details of the reopening of schools including important dates:

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• Promote Equity 
• Protect Public Health 
• Build Community 
• Increase the Quality of Student Learning
• Support Parents/Guardians as Workers 
• Align with Staff Experience and Abilities 

• Remain flexible: we are in a pandemic and the future is unpredictable. We will plan for the future but remain flexible to keep our community safe and healthy.
• Monitor emerging scientific recommendations: we are guided by data and science and will review all updates
• Adhere to the recommendations of Health Officials: we continuously receive recommendations from the Boston Public Health Commission, State officials, and the City of Boston on how to keep our students, staff, and families as healthy as possible. We will use these recommendations as guardrails for our planning.
• Recognize that things will change: while we can plan for the future, emerging science, our local COVID-19 numbers, and changing recommendations from health officials will mean that we will need to make changes as we go.

• The Boston Public Health Commission is closely monitoring:
• The daily number of positive tests
• The daily percent of positive tests
• The daily visits to emergency rooms with COVID-19-like symptoms
• BPS will pivot based on science and public health guidance

The Boston Public Health Commission Recommends:

• Social distancing (all 6 feet apart)
• Masks on all students and staff
• One student per row per bus
• No food in cafeterias
• Health protocols followed for bus & building sanitation and school nurse response to suspected exposure
• No group gatherings if community infection rates are outside of acceptable range

Equity is a central focus of all BPS planning and work. We seek to clearly understand how decisions impact students and families and to make choices that do not marginalize our most-marginalized students.  

The process we follow for bringing equity into every decision includes:

1. Identify desired results and outcomes
2. Gather the data
3. Engage all stakeholders
4. Review strategies for racial equity
5. Develop an implementation plan guided by data and engagement
6. Share measures of accountability and communicate to stakeholders