Return to classes outlined by ed. chief

Jeffrey Riley outlined the plans in a memo released Tuesday.

A new memo from Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Jeffrey Riley lays out a timeline for when Massachusetts schools will be required to return to fulltime, in-person learning, setting the expectation that middle and elementary schoolers will be back in classrooms next month.

The memo, a copy of which was posted online by the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, sets an April 5 date for elementary schoolers to be learning in-person five days a week and an April 28 date for middle-schoolers.

Riley said that the details and timing for returning high school students to classrooms will be announced in April, with at least two weeks’ notice for districts.

In announcing the dates, Riley is exercising a new authority granted to him by an 8-3 vote by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education on Friday. The board signed off on allowing Riley to determine when partial and full-time remote learning models would no longer count toward student learning time requirements. As of Feb. 12, nearly 80% of Massachusetts school districts were providing at least some in-person instruction to students through either fully in-person or hybrid learning models, and many districts have been making moves on their own to repopulate their classrooms.

Critics of the state’s move to require full-time, in-person schooling have said that such decisions are best made at the local level, where district officials have more information about things like how many students can safely fit in a particular classroom.

Baker administration officials have said that the timing is right because vaccination is underway, COVID-19 public health metrics have shown improvement, and more is now known about mitigation measures and the impacts of remote learning. K-12 and early educators on Thursday will be eligible to book appointments at state vaccination sites.