BOISE, Idaho — The Boise School District has approved a plan for when students eventually return to classrooms.
The district remains in the "red" category - which indicates substantial community spread of COVID-19 - and learning will continue to be done completely remotely for the time being.
The school board made the decision at a special meeting Tuesday night. After a long discussion, the board decided to leave the district in the red category- online learning only - until Central District Health changes it to "yellow" or phase 2 of reopening. Yellow indicates mild to moderate community spread of the virus.
The health department created the color-coded categories as a way to give guidance to school districts, although the ultimate decision on how and when to return students to class is ultimately up to each district.
The board also voted 7 to 1 to allow district administration the authority to decide how and when to phase students back into classrooms. However, that can't be done until CDH moves the district to the yellow category.
Superintendent Coby Dennis said it will be a phased approach because it's not safe to bring all students back at once.
"I think it would be irresponsible of us to just throw open our doors and have 1,600 kids at Boise High or 800 kids at West Junior High come flooding into our schools without some kind of plan to how things progress as we move kids back into schools, since we have not attempted this in the past," he said.
BSD started its school year with virtual learning last week.
The West Ada School Board also voted on Tuesday night to begin its school year in the red category, with remote learning only, for at least the first week. Its school year is scheduled to begin Sept. 8.
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