Minneapolis schools will go all virtual

Minneapolis Public Schools students will not go back to school in a traditional manner this fall, instead starting out the school year virtually.

District officials announced their plan to resume full distance learning at a board meeting Tuesday. A final vote is set to take place in August.

The decision comes ahead of a delayed statewide announcement that Gov. Tim Walz was expected to make Thursday.

By comparision, many schools in more rural areas, like in Carlton County, are considering plans that would combine distance learning days with in-school time.

Students were forced to abruptly stay home during statewide stay-at-home orders last spring, and schools quickly switched to remote learning.

Minneapolis school officials say they have a plan in place to improve students’ experiences as they return to remote learning.

“We heard from multiple stakeholders that when there wasn’t a predictable structure or a schedule, it was really hard for families to plan, it was hard for students to know when they should be online,” said Aimee Fearing, the chief of academics for Minneapolis Public Schools. “It was also hard for teachers to plan out their day as many of them during the spring had their own children in the home.”

The district surveyed 12,000 families earlier this month to gather thoughts on returning to school and distance learning. District officials say 74 percent of participants were white, which is not reflective of the district’s demographics.

Eric Moore, senior accountability, research and equity officer, said when he looked at the responses from African American and Indigenous families, 38 percent of Black families prefer full return to distance learning and 45 percent of American Indian families prefer distance learning as well.

Overall, more families said they’d like a hybrid model that combines in-person learning with distance learning.

Moore said the survey also revealed families’ concerns about remote learning last spring.

“The overall theme is just the inconsistency of distance learning and how we approached our work,” Moore said, noting that a large number of people prefer a full return to in-person learning.

The district is planning a multi-phase approach. Officials say they plan to implement a 100 percent remote learning model through the first quarter, which ends in October and they would eventually end with in-person learning. The timing will depend on how the COVID-19 pandemic evolves.

For more on the announcement from the state on how it expects school to re-open, visit MPRNews.org.