Shelby County Schools To Reopen Classrooms, Asking All Employees To Return

Memphis TN

12 February, 2021

4:15 PM

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By Laura Faith Kebede, Chalkbeat Tennessee February 12, 2021, Two weeks after Superintendent Joris Ray delayed reopening classrooms indefinitely, he announced students can begin returning to Memphis schools on March 1. Students in kindergarten through fifth grade can return to classrooms first, on March 1, with sixth through 12th graders returning a week later on March 8. The new timeline means that parents can contact their school if they want to change to in-person learning. Parents who choose to continue learning from home can still do that. Ray is urging all teachers to return to classrooms by Feb. 22 and will offer a $1,000 bonus for certified educators and $500 for other school-based employees. The superintendent told reporters Friday that he still does not know when Memphis teachers will be able to begin receiving COVID-19 vaccinations, even though he said district leaders have "pleaded with health officials and state leaders for months to prioritize vaccinations for teachers and SCS employees." Federal guidelines released Friday said schools don't need to wait for staff to be vaccinated to reopen. Ray cited declining numbers of COVID-19 cases in the county as one of the reasons he wants to reopen classrooms in about two weeks. He also cited a proposed bill expected from state lawmakers to cut funding for school systems that do not offer at least 70 days of in-person learning this year. "We've fought the good fight. We've stood alone in Memphis and Shelby County against mounting pressure to reopen while COVID-19 cases spiked in our community," Ray said in a prepared statement Friday afternoon. "We know best how to serve our students and children and as such, the time has come for us to return stronger in-person to our buildings and classrooms." But even students who return to buildings will still be learning through live videoconferencing since only about 17% of the district's teachers chose to teach from their classroom, based on the December survey. When Ray updated school board members on the district's reopening plan last week, including a team of contact tracers and plans to help the local health department vaccinate teachers at two district buildings, some board members urged Ray to set a new timeline. Shelby County Schools, the state's largest district with 90,000 students, is the only one in Tennessee that hasn't reopened school buildings this school year. Students in district run schools have been learning through live videoconferencing since August. The district's charter schools can make their own reopening plans and most of the charter networks are offering in-person learning, though few students are returning. This story will be updated. This press release was produced by Chalkbeat Tennessee. The views expressed here are the author's own.