MEMPHIS, Tennessee — Beginning this fall Tennessee schools will no longer be able to offer both in-person and virtual instruction. Instead, students must enroll in a virtual school if they want to continue remote learning.
“This is all still so very new just getting this information from the state regarding the latest mandate that they’re placing upon Shelby County Schools,” said SCS board member Michelle McKissack. “I do know confidently that our buildings are equipped to take in children.”
The State Board of Education made the decision this month in a special-called meeting that students who want to continue remote learning will have to enroll in a virtual school.
The reason districts were able to operate under the hybrid model of virtual and in-person learning was because the Tennessee State Department of Education passed continuous learning plans.
The plans were created due to the pandemic.
“All of this is still playing out in real-time we’re getting a new directive from the state, from the Tennessee Department of Education from the governor on how they want to see schools open come the fall,” McKissack said. “Shelby County Schools no matter what we’re going to be prepared for learning for students.”
Governor Bill Lee pushed for in-person learning and put pressure earlier this year on districts like Shelby County Schools to return to the building.
In a briefing last week Lee paid a visit to a charter school in Orange Mound.
“In-person learning is clearly the best option and we know that kids learn better in person,” said the governor at a press briefing last Friday. “But at the end of the day too we need to give parents a choice.”