Schools in several states begin in-person, remote classes Monday

Aug. 10 (UPI) -- Schools in some parts of the United States were set to reopen their doors for in-person instruction on Monday, amid concerns for new COVID-19 outbreaks.

Some school districts in multiple states will begin sending students, teachers and staff back to classrooms while many others will begin the year with remote learning.

Here is a snapshot at a few states that have districts resuming classes for the first time since the spring.

Georgia

Lumpkin County schools, which serves 3,800 students, is set to begin in-person instruction Monday after officials said last week that 25 staff members at five area schools and its central office have tested positive for COVID-19, and some others were awaiting results.

Superintendent Rob Brown said given the number of staff and students in the district, it has "very low numbers of spread in the past two weeks."

"We have had some positive cases during pre-planning as we had predicted," said Brown. "With almost 500 employees returning back to work just weeks ago, we really didn't know what to expect in terms of the virus spreading."

Pierce County Schools will also open with face-to-face classes on Monday, with precautions such as limited contact between students, more lunch times for middle schools and high schools to spread students out and a hold on assemblies and other gatherings.

Both districts also provided parents the choice to opt for a virtual learning program.

Some other districts in Georgia resumed physical classes last week.

Florida

Schools in Baker and Bradford counties will reopen with in-person instruction with new safety measures, such as enforcing distancing, assigned seats and increased disinfecting on school buses, staggering lunch periods and placing students into smaller groups.

"After much prayer, consideration and consultation with stakeholders across the state of Florida we have made some decisions regarding the reopening of schools in the fall," Superintendent Sherrie Raulerson said.

"I believe that face to face instruction with our quality teachers and staff is the best education that we can provide for our precious children."

Bradford County provided new remote options after finding that more than 800 students planned to leave the district for virtual learning or home school. One of those remote options allows students to livestream classes.

Tennessee

Schools in Rutherford County will reopen Monday with a registration day and the first full day is scheduled for next week.

Kindergartners and pre-kindergartners will be provided an alternate phase-in schedule, while the district also allowed families to sign up for distance learning through Aug. 5.

The district has dozens of campuses which serve approximately 50,000 students from Pre-K to 12th grade.

Texas

Thrall Independent School District in central Texas plans to return 75% of its students to in-person instruction on Monday, while 25% will continue with virtual learning.

The district serves three campuses and will be one of the first districts in Texas to reopen. It plans to have students attend in-person classes every other day.

"Students attend one day in person and the next day they actually stay at home," Superintendent Tommy Hooker said. "We continue to still do the playground with elementary, with caution, with social distance, with a mask on. We still plan to do things like physical education."

Nebraska

Millard Public Schools in Omaha will begin in-person learning on Monday with a plan for students to attend one day for the first week broken into groups based on their last names.

For example, students with last names beginning with "A" through "F" will begin in-person instruction on Monday, and so on.

Remote learning will begin on Friday.

There are other states with districts beginning classes this week, including Indiana and Alabama.