Pittsburgh Public School Board votes for some students to return to in-person learning

PITTSBURGH — A majority of students in Pittsburgh Public Schools will not return to their school’s campus until at least January.

School board members presented passionate and persuasive arguments after two nights of hourslong public comment from parents.

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“I don’t believe in putting anyone in a situation I wouldn’t want to be in myself,” said board member Devon Taliaferro.

Board members voted on a plan that parents said wasn’t even presented to families in the district, allowing only certain students to return to in-class learning — essentially an amendment to the plan that was shared publicly.

The Pittsburgh Public Schools board votes for Cohort D, including high-risk students with disabilities, to return to class for in-person learning on Nov. 9.

The plan basically breaks students into four groups. Here is a breakdown from PPS:

Cohort AA – Beginning no earlier than Jan. 4, 2021, students in Cohort AA will spend Monday and Tuesday learning in school, and then Wednesday, Thursday and Friday learning remotely.

Cohort BB – Beginning no earlier than Jan. 4, 2021, students in Cohort BB will learn remotely Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and then spend Thursday and Friday learning in school.

Cohort C – Students in Cohort C will learn remotely five days a week and may opt for in-person instruction no earlier than Jan. 25, 2021.

Cohort D – Students in newly defined Cohort D will begin in-person instruction, four days a week, starting Nov. 9, 2020. Based on new criteria approved this evening, Cohort D will be formulated, and school principals will notify families of affected students.

Board members argue the students who cannot learn online and are getting a failing grade must be the first ones gradually reintroduced to classrooms.

“I know that tonight’s decision may not sit well with everybody,” Taliaferro said.

With Thanksgiving, winter break and flu season around the corner, the board agrees rates of cases are only expected to climb and that having students, teachers and staff back in class only to be sent home again will be a nightmare for working families.

Board members said they’ve heard from so many frustrated families who cannot juggle work and child care for at-home learning. They say they’re listening, and they want children back in class, but they cannot risk lives.

Pittsburgh Public Schools board hears concerns of parents, teachers on proposed return to classrooms

Cox Media Group