<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/1/1610471213382.png" alt="Stephan Bisaha / Kansas News Service " />
 <figcaption>Stephan Bisaha / Kansas News Service </figcaption>
 </figure>By STEPHAN BISAHA <a href="https://www.kmuw.org/post/students-kansas-largest-school-districts-return-classrooms-during-pandemic">Kansas News Service</a>Since March, K-12 students at the state’s largest districts have been
 sent home, brought back and then told to leave their classrooms again.Now,
 many of those students will return to school buildings again this month
 as educators and researchers redefine what it means to hold in-person 
classes safely.Topeka Public Schools <a href="https://www.cjonline.com/story/news/education/2020/12/30/topeka-public-schools-returning-in-person-classes/4094303001/" target="_blank">reopened its doors</a> to all students last week. <a href="https://www.cjonline.com/story/news/local/2020/12/15/usd-437-will-tentatively-start-spring-semester-with-some-in-person-learning/43270965/" target="_blank">Auburn-Washburn</a>
 brought students back, with middle and high school students using a 
hybrid model. Shawnee Heights, Olathe and Wichita Public Schools all 
welcomed students back this month.Pushback from parents, new 
state guidelines and research suggesting schools are not superspreaders 
caused districts to bring kids back. Some teacher unions support the 
return to classrooms.But community spread remains uncontrolled. 
The vaccine rollout has stumbled. November saw administrators pulled in 
to teach while many regular classroom teachers were stuck in quarantine.
 Teachers still worry what reopening means for their safety.<h2>Back in session</h2>Concerns
 about student health did not shut classroom doors in November — they 
closed because districts just didn’t have the staff.In November,
 so many teachers were quarantined that districts did not have enough 
educators to cover all their classes. Administrators were pulled from 
offices and put in classrooms to help fill the need. By the end of the 
month, 16% of the staff at Wichita Public Schools was quarantining.“We
 were pulling in anyone in a building that we could to cover these 
classes, and they were more monitoring kids rather than teaching,” said 
Kimberly Howard, president of the United Teachers of Wichita.Wichita
 Public Schools had planned throughout November, despite opposition from
 teachers, to let middle and high school students return for in-person 
classes.But with so few educators available, the board reversed 
course. Instead of bringing middle and high school students back, the 
district kept them at home and also sent elementary students home as 
well for online learning. Olathe Public Schools sent students home for 
the same reason.But <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/school-coronavirus-spread/2020/12/29/bbfac9d8-3697-11eb-a997-1f4c53d2a747_story.html" target="_blank">new research</a>
 suggests teachers and students rarely become infected in school 
buildings. Contact tracers found little evidence of infections within 
schools — most teachers became infected in their local communities 
instead.That caused the Kansas State Department of Education to suggest schools <a href="https://www.ksde.org/Home/Quick-Links/News-Room/kansas-state-board-of-education-december-highlights-board-members-approve-change-to-school-gating-criteria-1" target="_blank">keep elementary students inside the classroom</a>, no matter how bad the local spread of the virus gets.On
 Monday night, the Wichita school board voted to let elementary students
 return Wednesday. Middle and high school students will come back when 
the new semester starts Jan. 25. Students in any grade can still learn 
remotely if that’s what their parents prefer.Olathe Public 
Schools said it reopened classrooms because public health indicators 
said it was safe based on the guidelines the board passed in August.But
 Superintendent John Allison said the district is considering updating 
those guidelines because its own local data showed the same results as 
the national research — little indication of the virus spreading inside 
the schools.“Schools have not been the superspreaders everyone was concerned about,” Allison said.An analysis of Wichita public schools by The Wichita Eagle seems to <a href="https://www.kansas.com/news/local/education/article248407765.html" target="_blank">contradict that national research</a>.
 In-person elementary students were three times as likely to have a 
positive coronavirus test result. Wichita Public Schools employees had 
nearly twice as many cases per capita than the community as a whole.<h2>Worried return</h2>Researchers
 add the caveat that schools still need to keep students and staff 
masked and distanced to keep that spread low. As Olathe and other 
districts bring back middle and high school students, they’re sticking 
with a hybrid model, which includes in-person and remote learning.Some
 Kansas teachers unions have said they support loosening guidelines 
based on medical experts — so long as those preventive measures still 
happen in the classroom. The Kansas National Education Association said 
in several Kansas school districts, masks still aren’t required for 
students and staff.The union also wants teachers to have the 
option to stay home. If a teacher lives with someone who’s at risk for 
serious complications from contracting COVID-19, they’re often still 
required to show up when a school reopens.Olathe Public Schools 
said that’s the same risk taken at any in-person job during the pandemic
 — even less because of the evidence suggesting little school spread. 
But that hasn’t completely assuaged the KNEA’s concerns.“You 
have a circumstance there where you’re really being asked to roll the 
dice,” said Marcus Baltzell, the director of communications for KNEA.Stephan Bisaha reports on education and young adult life for the Kansas News Service. You can follow him on Twitter <a href="http://twitter.com/stevebisaha?lang=en" target="_blank">@SteveBisaha</a> or email him at bisaha@kmuw.org.

Students in Kan. largest districts returning to classrooms