PITTSFIELD, Mass. (NEWS10) — Wednesday night, Pittsfield Public Schools Committee voted unanimously to start transitioning to hybrid/in-person education immediately.

A statement from interim superintendent Joseph Curtis says the transition involves a gradual timeline of phasing students and staff back in to a more traditional learning model.

Career, vocational, and technical education students in grades 10 through 12 are set to start returning on Monday, February 1. Teachers and nurses were set to return to work in-person as of Friday, January 29.

Substantially separate education students, including Stearns School first and second grade inclusion model students, will return on Monday, February 8. Special education teachers and nurses are scheduled to return in-person on February 1.

Finally, the remaining student body will be returning on Friday, February 22, “or as soon as realistically possible during the week of February 22.” They will review the transition plan at a February 10 school committee meeting.

The statement from Interim Superintendent Curtis says that Pittsfield Public Schools will closely monitor research, metrics, and local developments tied to COVID cases, along with the impacts of long-term remote education on students.