Some students will return to classrooms at Fort Worth ISD as part of the district's phase-in plan starting Oct. 5.
Last week, the board voted against pushing back that start date, but after a 10-hour long meeting and hundreds of public comments Tuesday, members voted to start Oct. 19 with full implementation of either virtual, in-person or hybrid learning.
The phased-in return to school starts Oct. 5 for students in pre-K, kindergarten, first grade, sixth grade and ninth grades, for those who have chosen in-person learning.
Self-contained special education classes who choose in-person will return Oct. 5. Seventh-grade students who are at Rosemont, Wedgwood, McLean, and Forest Oak Middle Schools who choose in-person instruction will also begin Oct. 5.
All other grades will start in-person learning, if they choose, on Oct. 13: second grade, third grade, seventh grade and 10th grade.
The district's Board of Education approved a hybrid model of in-person learning for high schools in the district.
That plan will split high school students into two groups that will alternate with two days of in-person learning and two days of virtual learning. They will attend school in person every other Friday.
Ninth-grade students will start the hybrid model during the week of Oct. 5
Tenth-grade students will begin the hybrid model during the week of Oct. 13.
Full implementation of either in-person or virtual classes will happen on Oct. 19.
Students will learn with asynchronous instruction on Oct. 1 and 2, which will also be designated as days on which teachers can prep their rooms for in-person instruction, the district said.
Oct. 12 is a holiday for students and a teacher "flex day."
The district still has to get a waiver from the Texas Education Agency in order to implement the new timeline.
