The Buffalo Public Schools have taken the next step in their phased re-opening plan.

The district, according to WIVB-TV is moving ahead with a plan to bring more students back into the classroom on March 15.

This second phase of re-opening will include students in third and fourth-grade as well as high school freshmen and juniors.

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Earlier this month, students Pre-K through second grade, high school seniors and students with special needs were introduced to the district’s hybrid learning model.

“I’m happy that we’re bringing more students back,” parent Sam Radford III said after the previous opening. “I think we’re moving at a really slow pace and I think our children are paying a serious price and are going to pay a serious price for that in the long term.”

Board member Kathy Evans-Brown says the district is taking a cautious approach.

“You know yourself. if buffalo opened its doors and brought in 30,000 kids we’d be the first ones on the news, right? we set up these kids to die, right? we set up these teachers to die, right? So we’re doing it in a very thoughtful way, and the nay-sayers need to sit down and close their mouths.”

 

Parents throughout Western New York have been pushing school leaders to bring students back to the classroom 5 days a week. Several school superintendents, when queried said given the current guidelines on schools, that was just not possible.

Concern has also been expressed by parents and specialists in the field that the lack of social interaction and the extended lockdown has caused students undue stress.

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