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Clark County Public Schools students will be back in their schools Thursday.

Superintendent Paul Christy announced Monday in a letter on the school district’s website that because of a decrease in COVID-19 cases in the community, and after consulting with the local Health Department, he has decided the hybrid A-B plan both in-person and virtual instruction would begin Nov. 5.

The “B” group will begin on Thursday and continue Friday. Group “A” will begin Monday,

and continue Tuesday. Wednesdays will involve distance learning for all students.

The reason for the hybrid plan is that there isn’t enough space in some classrooms for students to be seated a minimum of six feet apart, which is the state and federal public health recommendation. Therefore half of the students who opted to return to school will be in school Mondays and Tuesdays, and the other half Thursdays and Fridays, with everyone engaged in virtual learning on the days they are not in the classrooms.

In the past several weeks, schools have been bringing increasing numbers of students who need extra help into the schools for short periods of time to learn in small groups.

Those students who chose the full-time distance learning platform, as well as hybrid-plan students

not scheduled for in-person that day, may continue to pick up meals between 11:30 a.m. and

1 p.m. Monday through Friday at any school location except the Clark County Preschool and

Phoenix Academy. This meal schedule will continue regardless of in-person or distance learning, he said. “We will continue to work with our local Health Department using COVID-19 daily updates

regarding Clark County’s current status to assess what is best for the safety of all stakeholders,” Christy wrote. “Please continue to follow CDC and Clark County Health Department guidelines. Refer to Clark

County Public Schools’ social media accounts for updates and current school activity changes.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.”

In-person classes were scheduled to begin Oct. 30, the first day after the end of the first nine weeks of classes, which school officials had decided would be virtual to try to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. But a spike in cases last week, which put Clark County in the critical category, or “red zone,” resulted in the decision to postpone in-person classes.

On Monday, the Health Department reported that Clark County’s daily incidence rate for COVID-19 had declined to 15.4 per 100,000 population, putting the county in the accelerated, or “orange zone” status.

As of Monday, the county had 59 active coronavirus cases. The number of people in the county who have had the virus was 628. Twelve have died of the illness, and 557 have recovered.