Omaha Public Schools say remote learning to end this year

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Nebraska’s largest school district will not offer strictly remote learning next school year.

Omaha Public Schools announced Wednesday that remote learning will end this month, the Omaha World-Herald reported.

Remote learning within OPS schools and other Nebraska districts, in which students learned and performed school work at home, began last year with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

OPS will still offer an option for students not ready to return fully to learning in person, the district said in a news release. The district will expand the Omaha Virtual School, an existing program in which students spend four days a week learning independently at home and attend in-person sessions once each week.

The district said it will add space for 400 new students in the Virtual School. The current enrollment is approximately 200 students. New enrollments at the school will be based on space and application criteria, the district said.

Omaha Public Schools currently serves more than 53,000 students.