PHOENIX — All eyes are on Gov. Doug Ducey this week as he is expected to make a decision regarding the re-opening of public schools during this pandemic.
More than 2,200 schools, serving more than a million kids will be impacted by the governor’s decision.
So far, the governor has only said that schools should not have students back on campus sooner than August 17th.
On Monday, the State Superintendent Kathy Hoffman and her team met with Gov. Ducey’s staff to discuss details of the plan. Hoffman has stated she wants school districts and families to have flexibility.
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School districts face many decisions, such as how to best accommodate students who want online learning only and how to enforce CDC guidelines in classrooms.
Arizona’s Teachers Union President Joe Thomas says his most pressing concern is forcing teachers back to the classroom too soon. Thomas believes schools will provide online instruction better than they did in the spring, and he believes classrooms shouldn’t re-open on a large scale until at least the first quarter is over.
“The CDC has guidelines that indicate we really shouldn’t open schools until we have diminished numbers for 28 days across six different indicators and that’s really going to take a lot of work for Arizona,” Thomas said.
Despite President Donald Trump’s declarations that schools should re-open as soon as possible in-person, but Ducey said last week during a news conference he will not allow politics to influence his decisions.