Chesterfield County resumes in-person classes amid pushback
Free Press wire reports | 11/12/2020, 6 p.m.
The final cohort of students in Chesterfield County Public Schools began in-person classes Monday amid pushback from teachers and staff about the decision.
About 34,000 middle school and high school students from Chesterfield were separated into two groups for the in-person classes. One group will meet on Mondays and Tuesdays, while the second group is scheduled to meet Thursdays and Fridays.
Students are scheduled to have virtual classes on Wednesdays. Families also have the option of keeping their children entirely in virtual learning.
About 28,600 students from the school system had previously resumed in-person classes, but a recent survey of the school district’s staff showed that nearly 900 staff members felt “uneasy” about more students heading back to the classroom.
Chesterfield schools officials said they are working with employees to reiterate their “commitment to a safe and working learning environment.” But Emma Clarke, a middle school teacher, said the district is “willfully ignoring the thoughts and feelings of their staff members.”
There have been 50 confirmed coronavirus cases among Chesterfield schools employees, a contractor and a visitor since September.
