All Gwinnett County Public Schools students will default to in-person learning next school year unless their families opt out by April 4.
Families will receive information this week about their options, said Al Taylor, interim associate superintendent for school improvement and operations, in a recent presentation to the school board.
“There’s a nuanced difference for next year than what was in place this year,” he said. “Our preference this year was in person but it really was kind of an equal choice. Next year, our recommendation is in person.”
Taylor said declining infection rates and the school system’s robust vaccination campaign show that COVID-19 conditions are improving.
The school district is capable of implementing 100% in-person instruction next school year while continuing to follow mitigation guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other health experts, he said.
Roughly 55% of the 177,000 students enrolled in Gwinnett schools are learning in person this semester, but the concentrations vary from school to school. At some campuses, almost 80% of students have returned, Taylor said.
“We have, I think, some very effective models that we can learn from,” he said.
Students learning digitally next school year can stay enrolled at their home schools. Their schedules will mix real-time instruction with independent work time.
Teachers next year will no longer simultaneously teach in-person and digital students, he said. Some teachers will only work with digital students, who may be from several different schools to fill out classes, he said.
Students will continue to have the ability to enroll in Gwinnett Online Campus or Georgia Virtual School.
Some programs or classes, such as band, orchestra or courses that depend on access to special equipment, will not be available digitally, Taylor said.
Since the school year began in August, the district has reported more than 4,700 known cases of COVID-19 among staff and students, according to its website.
The school district recently scheduled vaccinations for 9,000 employees through the county health department and Northside Hospital Gwinnett, said spokeswoman Sloan Roach. Others signed up for appointments through the school system but received their shots elsewhere.
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