Montgomery County Public Schools will begin a return to in-person learning on March 1. The gradual return to classroom instruction, approved by the county school board Tuesday, will start with a small group of special education students and students in career and technical education programs. Then, beginning March 15, additional groups of students will return to in-person instruction in phases, starting with some of the youngest students and prioritized groups like English language learners and students in alternative education programs. According to the school system’s plan, all students whose families opt for in-person instruction will be back in classrooms in some form by April 26.

“When students return, it will look and feel much different from what they previously experienced in school buildings,” says the district’s announcement explaining the reopening process. “Face coverings, physical distancing and frequent hand-washing will be required to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Additionally, how frequently a student attends school in-person and how they engage with their teacher, other staff members and peers will be different.”

Families have the option of remaining with all-virtual instruction if they choose, and the county estimates that about 40% of students will return to classrooms under the reopening plan. Survey results obtained by Bethesda Beat showed that schools with whiter and wealthier student bodies tended to choose in-person instruction at higher rates. This likely means that students in the county’s Black and Latino communities, which have been most affected by the health and economic impacts of the pandemic, will likely be continuing with all-virtual instruction at higher rates.

In remarks during the school board meeting Tuesday, Superintendent Jack R. Smith said the success of school reopening would be dependent on the broader community’s adherence to public health guidance to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

“One of the ways that we can actually accelerate having students back in school is for all of us to follow the safety protocols that have been set forth,” said Smith.

“This is truly going to be a community effort,” said Deputy Superintendent Monifa McKnight at Tuesday’s meeting, in response to a question about how coronavirus safety rules will be enforced at schools. “This is about us being able to manage and come back to create safe conditions. We can’t eliminate risk, but we can definitely manage risk based on how we implement this.”

Montgomery County Public Schools had previously planned on bringing small groups of students back to classrooms in February, but the school board voted in January to push reopening to March in response to concerns about the rate of coronavirus spread in the jurisdiction.

After a surge in infections throughout the fall and into the winter, the 7-day average number of coronavirus infections per 100,000 residents has declined in the county. On Tuesday it was 20.1, down from a high of nearly 50 on January 12. The county’s initial benchmark for school reopening was 15 cases per 100,000 residents.

In January, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said he wanted all schools in the state to reopen for in-person learning by March 1 and threatened legal action for school districts that did not honor his request.

Some teachers in Montgomery County have urged the school system to delay reopening or more effectively prioritize vaccines for teachers who are scheduled to return to classrooms in the earlier phases. The vast majority of teachers in the county have not received the first dose of their vaccines.

In its presentation to the school board on Tuesday, representatives from the school system also pushed back on a “misconception” they said had surfaced among community members that the classroom experience for students will just be “babysitting.”

“While it will not be a traditional brick-and-mortar experience, students will benefit from in-person learning with a variety of staff and engagement with their peers,” said the slide presented to the board and posted on the school system’s website.

Elsewhere in the region, Arlington County also announced on Tuesday it would be returning to in-person learning starting in the first week of March.