CASTLE ROCK — CASTLE ROCK, Colo. — The Douglas County School District Board of Education unanimously approved a plan on Saturday to start the fall semester on what is being called a hybrid schedule. The plan comes after hours of discussion about a 100% in-person model presented as an option in the district's Road to Return Plan released on Friday.
In a statement released by the district, the hybrid plan is described as " two days of in-person learning and three days of eLearning from home each week." Students will be placed into cohorts that will rotate between school and home depending on the day.
The plan reduces the original 100% in-person option to a model where only 20% of students will be in a school building at one time.
According to the Road to Reopening Plan, a hybrid schedule was offered as an option to parents along with a fully in-person or fully online plan. After superintendent Dr. Thomas Tucker advised against the plan to offer 100% in-person learning, the board members followed suit.
The removal of 100% in-person learning comes amid a statewide and national debate over when and how to open schools. Many parents and teachers say it is unsafe to allow students to congregate in classrooms that could potentially further the spread of coronavirus. However, others, like President Donald Trump, have pushed for the complete reopening of schools in the fall.