Author: Sam Buisman

Madison Metropolitan School District schools will begin the school year with entirely online classes.

According to a Thursday-evening press release from the MMSD, all of its 51 schools will conduct at least the first quarter of the 2020-2021 school year virtually to protect students and teachers from COVID-19. At the earliest, the district will re-open its schools under a hybrid-learning model at the end of its first quarter on Oct. 30 if it is safe to do so.

In a press release, Interim Superintendent Jane Belmore emphasized with teachers, parents and students alike regarding this decision.

“[T]his is an incredibly difficult announcement. Our preference will always be to have students and teachers together in school buildings learning face-to-face every weekday,” wrote Belmore. “We hope that it will be safe to do so very soon.”

The MMSD's announcement came a day after Madison Teachers Inc., the teachers' union for the Madison area, demanded that the district start off the year online on account of the danger posed to students and teachers by in-person learning. 

In their announcement, the MMSD promised to improve upon its online instruction from what they described as the “far-from-ideal situation we were in through the spring.” In this regard, the district unveiled plans to add extra professional development days into its schedule to better equip its teachers to administer online learning. 

According to Public Health Madison and Dane County, there have been 3,495 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Dane County and 33 resulting deaths.