Tulsa Public Schools Continuing With Virtual Learning Until March

Tulsa Public Schools announced that students will continue with distance learning until March.

Officials said the recent soar of COVID-19 cases across the state would make it unsafe for students and teachers to go back to the classroom.

Students will now go back to in-person learning on March 22, which is the day after Spring Break.

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The district quoted the Oklahoma State Department of Health's report of 3,000 new COVID-19 cases this week.

Tulsa County also reported that the county is averaging 629 new confirmed daily cases, as of Wednesday.

The board also voted on extending the end of the first semester from January 15th to February 5th.

The board said extending the semester will give struggling students more time to boost their grades by turning in or redoing assignments. Students who are behind will be able to make up no more than 10 assignments per class.

Some of the board members are also parents. They want the community to know that extending virtual learning is just as hard for them.

"As a parent of a child with dyslexia and as a parent of a child with ADD--for the two of them school is very hard," said TPS board member Stacey Woolley. "That's going to be six more weeks of really hard work for this mom."

The district said teachers will start getting in touch with families on January 25th to give them more of an idea about what they expect for the semester.

Governor Kevin Stitt issued a statement in response to the TPS decision, saying,

“As governor, I join the thousands of parents, students and teachers in Tulsa who are heartbroken to learn that they will continue to be denied the option to be together in their classrooms for at least 374 days. Sadly, this decision is based on politics instead of the data which clearly shows that schools can be reopened safely.”