UPDATED: Here’s what you need to know about MPS plans to reopen for in-person instruction | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Sam Woods
January 28, 2021
For the first time since March, some MPS students will return to in-person education. (File photo by Adam Carr)
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with news from Thursday’s school board meeting,
Milwaukee Public Schools will bring students back in person, starting with students with disabilities returning on Feb. 8.
The rest of the student body will remain in virtual learning – at least for now.
The Board of Directors on Thursday approved allowing in-person instruction to take place in the following phases:
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MPS administrators will come back to the school board in March to discuss whether these return dates are still feasible, based on the positivity rate of the COVID virus, the percentage of staff who have been vaccinated and the physical and staffing capacity of schools to reopen under Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.
They may also be challenged by the district’s teachers’ union, which is circulating a petition to remain in virtual instruction “until it is safe to return.”
MPS Superintendent Keith Posley said previously that the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, or DPI, directed MPS to return students with disabilities by Feb. 8. But emails supplied by DPI appear to show the department expects MPS to provide in-person learning for students with disabilities by Feb. 4.
“If MPS fails to provide in-person services as required for students with IEPs by the deadline of February 4, 2021, the department will move forward with withholding  reimbursement of state special education categorical aids,” State Superintendent Carolyn Stanford Taylor wrote to Posley on Jan. 7. An IEP, or Individualized Education Plan, is a legally binding document detailing what education experience is best suited for a student that requires special education.
A DPI spokesman said the department is aware of MPS’ plan but did not say which date will be the deadline for MPS to resume in-person instruction.
“We understand MPS is looking at Feb. 8. We will discuss that and work with the district once final decisions by the board have been made,” Chris Bucher, a DPI spokesman, said.
The students with disabilities and the staff returning will be located in three schools.
Earlier this week, Posley told an MPS committee that he received guidance from the state that all staff will be part of the “1B” vaccination group. This means that teachers and school staff will be eligible to receive the vaccine by March 1.
The Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association, the union representing many MPS teachers, has gathered over 3,800 signatures in support of remaining in all-virtual instruction. The union cites the “dangerously high” levels of community spread and lack of widespread vaccine access, saying students younger than 16 are not eligible for the vaccine.
Union president Amy Mizialko expressed her support for staying virtual in a statement.
“The school board’s decision to remain virtual shows the voices of parents, students, workers and our community are being heard,” Mizialko said. “The final motion is not perfect, but is an important step toward keeping students, staff and their families safe until this public health crisis is over.”
Do you have any questions about when or how MPS will phase into in-person learning? Comment below, email our education reporter at samwoods@milwaukeenns.org, or fill out this form.