Colorado School Reopening Updates: Sheridan District Delays Planned Return To In-Person Learning

Denver CO

26 November, 2020

12:09 AM

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From Chalkbeat Colorado: By Chalkbeat Staff Updated November 24, 2020 Get news and updates on Colorado school districts' evolving fall plans below. Know something we should know? Have questions we could answer? Write us at [email protected]. Sheridan school district pushes planned in-person return to January The small Sheridan school district on the southwestern edge of Denver is delaying a planned return to in-person learning, citing the ongoing wave of coronavirus cases sweeping the community. The 1,200-student district had planned to again offer an in-person option to families starting Nov. 30, after Thanksgiving break. Now the plan is to attempt a return on Jan. 19, the day after the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, for families who want that option, the district said Tuesday. All families who want to stay all remote will be able to do so. Superintendent Pat Sandos said in a statement that the district's data continues to show that spread of the virus is minimal inside schools. He added that the district successfully offered in-person learning for 11 weeks for all grade levels earlier in the fall, and that teachers and students "now have a good connection." "Let's all do our part in the community to suppress this wave — wearing masks, washing hands, practice social distancing, and keeping gatherings to immediate family only," he said. "If we all do our part we can get back more quickly to what we all want — and that's schools humming along at full throttle. We know we will get there but how soon is really all up to each of us." The district's announcement came on the same day Gov. Jared Polis announced a "back-to-school task force" to help school districts offer as much uninterrupted in-person learning as possible in the second semester. The group is supposed to meet for the first time Wednesday. — Eric Gorski This story was originally published by Chalkbeat, a nonprofit news organization covering public education. Sign up for their newsletters here.