GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Grand Rapids Public Schools is expanding hybrid in-person learning for grades K-8 next month.
All students in grades K-8 in cohorts A and B, will now attend in-person on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays starting April 12, the district said in a news release.
Wednesdays will still be 100% virtual and asynchronous for all students.
Classrooms will be reconfigured for at least three feet of social distancing, in accordance with new guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and the Kent County Health Department.
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All other safety and mitigation measures will stay the same.
Because of staffing and logistical issues, the district will not be able to maintain the two-day in-person hybrid instructional option for K-8 families who want to remain in the current hybrid configuration.
Therefore, parents who don’t want four days of in-person instruction will need to notify their schools and their students will be put in the 100% virtual instructional model for the rest of the academic year.
Virtual students will remain virtual, but exceptions may be made for extenuating circumstances. That would also depend on capacity, class size, scheduling and final approval from the principal and executive director.
The change doesn’t apply to students in preschool, Early Childhood Special Education or grades 9-12.
District officials say they’re working with the Kent County Health Department as they implement the changes.