D.C. Public Schools and the city’s teachers union have brokered a tentative deal laying out conditions for how schools will reopen, an accord that may temper a monthslong fight over how to safely bring students and educators back to campuses.

The six-page agreement lists nearly 50 conditions the system would meet before reopening schools, including workplace protections for teachers who are exposed to the coronavirus and safety conditions inside buildings. Washington Teachers’ Union President Elizabeth Davis said she would seek feedback from the group’s members before formally signing off on the agreement with D.C. schools Chancellor Lewis D. Ferebee. 

Davis said she would inform Ferebee of her decision by Tuesday.

“We want to return to in-person as soon as possible but we cannot overlook the safety issues,” she said. “We’ve got to ensure that these schools are safe for students and teachers. And, if they’re not, we do not want them to reopen.”

Ferebee confirmed the proposed agreement.

“Our health and safety measures are in place as we look to welcome educators back to the classroom with their students,” he said in a statement.

The union and school system have been locked in negotiations over reopening schools for several months. One provision has kept the two sides from reaching an agreement sooner: the union wants the teachers to have the choice of turning down an in-person teaching assignment, the school system does not.

They struck a compromise in the proposed agreement. For the second quarter, which is underway, only teachers who volunteer to work in person will staff physical classrooms. For the third and fourth quarter — which run from early February through June — the school system may require teachers to work in person if not enough teachers volunteer, a term Davis said the union could renegotiate in the future.

Ferebee has said he does not need approval from the Washington Teachers’ Union to reopen schools and has signaled he would move forward with plans without union support.

But lack of union cooperation stymied reopening plans this month. The school system planned on bringing back up to 7,000 elementary school students for in-person classes earlier this week. The union filed a complaint with the city’s Public Employee Relations Board, arguing the school system refused to negotiate with the teachers group, as required by law. The board, which mediates disputes between city employers and workers, sided with the union, leaving DCPS unable to staff classrooms.

Instead, the school system will reopen on a much smaller scale next week. About 600 elementary students are expected to start learning in CARE classrooms, where they will continue with virtual learning under the supervision of adults who are not teachers. The school system initially planned to have 14,000 students in CARE classes.

Ferebee has not released further plans for a broader reopening of campuses, but has said the school system will likely try to bring more students back to physical classrooms this academic year.

Still, the agreement is unlikely to allay concerns from some community members who still worry it is not safe to return to school buildings.

The District of Columbia Nurses Association, which represents more than 100 school nurses, is expected to hold a rally Saturday protesting plans for opening CARE classrooms next week, according to a news release. The union says school nurses have not received adequate protective equipment and lack information about protocols for isolating people and temperature checks.