CLEVELAND — Cleveland Metropolitan School District teachers will head back to their classrooms on Wednesday, March 10, following an announcement that they are satisfied school buildings are now safe.
“Based on the amount of progress that was made since Thursday, we are confident that our school district is ready to move to hybrid learning,” Cleveland Teachers Union President Shari Obrenski said.
The district is rolling out a hybrid-learning model, bringing students into classrooms two days a week, and employing remote instruction or independent assignments the other days. Preschool kids and some populations would meet four days each week.
District CEO Eric Gordon had ordered teachers back to the buildings by Monday, March 8, a week later than the March 1 deadline set by Gov. Mike DeWine. The governor promised the COVID-19 vaccine to teachers and staff of Ohio schools that met his deadline. Cleveland was one of seven districts that missed it.
More than 500 teachers of the 5,000-teacher union voted last week to continue teaching remotely, pointing to inadequate sanitization and ventilation, distancing issues in classroom configuration and lack of protective equipment, according to a statement from the Cleveland Teachers Union last Thursday.
The district also issued a statement last week pledging to work through the weekend to rectify specific concerns of the teaching staff but holding to the March 8 deadline.
On Friday, teachers and district officials met with Mayor Frank Jackson and American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten to work through teachers’ concerns.
An agreement was reached Monday night, Gordon wrote in a letter to parents.
“I know this will be welcome news to families as all of you prepare for the long-awaited reopening of our schools over the next two weeks,” Gordon wrote.
Following the teachers’ return, on Friday, March 12 special needs students will come back to classrooms for hybrid learning in Phase 1.
Students in Phase 2 will transition to hybrid learning the week of March 15, followed by Phase 3 students returning March 22, Gordon said.
“Our buildings are safe, and the district has taken every precaution possible to ensure the health and safety of our students and staff,” he said Tuesday in a statement. “We are all looking forward to welcoming back students whose families have chosen a return to in-person instruction.”
Families who do not want students to return to hybrid learning can elect for students to continue learning remotely, working with “live” teachers five days a week and on teacher-directed assignments.
Families also have the option of enrolling students in the district’s Virtual Academy, which features an independent structure based on pre-recorded lessons and teacher support.
