More than 22,000 students across the nation's fourth largest school district are returning to classrooms Monday for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic upended daily life in the spring and forced teachers and pupils in Miami-Dade Public Schools to move learning online at home.

Schools are reopening their doors for pre-k, kindergarten, first grade and students on a modified curriculum who have opted for in-person learning. Another 40,000 students are expected to return Wednesday under the district’s staggered reopening plan.

State education officials and the Miami-Dade School Board debated the reopening date, settling on Monday after several votes and contending with the threat of budget shortfalls.

Administrators and teachers tackled the tall order of preparing campuses for students again, rearranging indoor spaces across their campuses to ensure social distancing, installing air filters and sending nurses and “medically trained staff” to each school.

Each student is expected to receive a thermometer when they return to campus.

Read more from WLRN news partner the Miami Herald.

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