MILWAUKEE, Wis. (SPECTRUM NEWS)— A decision has been made by Milwaukee Public School District for what the upcoming school year will look like for students teachers and families.

In a six-hour-long special meeting, the Milwaukee Public School District has unanimously decided to reopen schools with a phased approach, starting virtually.

This means that students will begin virtually for around 30-45 days barring public health. They will then move to a hybrid approach of virtual and face to face learning. The next phase would be full time in-person face-to-face learning.

“People want to go to school but they want to be safe in school and make sure the buildings are safe that children and adults will be safe in that building. Yes it is true that children may not be as prone to get it as other but they may be carriers and they may be infecting teachers and teachers may be infecting them and we would have a mess on our hands,” MPS School Board Vice President, Antonio Baez said.

Throughout the meeting, board members listened to three hours worth of parent, teacher, and student input and questions from both sides of the fence.

“So what is really going to be different in this virtual learning from this year to last year. You have a better plan but what does that distance learning look like do you have a plan?” MPS Parent, Mary Doughty said.

So as a parent what does this virtual start look like for your kids? Below is a look at a chart made by MPS. It breaks down the number of hours with teacher interaction and work alone time during their school day, varying from grade levels.

Schools will be on a staggered start system. The early start will begin August 17th, following the traditional start date of September 1st.

The board says the goal is to improve on the virtual learning that quickly took place this past spring and use this plan as a framework to how the school year will look for students, teachers, and families.

The board will continue the conversations. Many other points brought up were additional assistance for students living with disabilities who will receive extra resources and guides from teachers and staff.

They also brought up PPE for teachers. The administration says they have been ordering the PPE all summer long in order to be prepared for this upcoming school year.

Chrome books and hot spots along with more in-depth teaching tools for students and parents on how to use technology will be provided.