93-3-WMR Audio on Demand presents the Preston and Steve show podcast.

And now, Preston and Steve's news update with Kathy Romano.

Today is Wednesday, January 27th. Good morning, Kathy.

Good morning in the news this morning.

Leaders of the School District of Philadelphia will announce details today on reopening schools using a hybrid plan, which will include in-person learning

for the first time since March of last year. The goal is to start with pre-K through second grade

students next month. I didn't realize that they were all still at home. You know, you kind of lose

track of the different schools and what everybody's doing. And I did not realize that Philadelphia had not gone back at all to in-person learning since last

year. Yeah. Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenny and City Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley said they

want to reopen schools as soon as possible. They said data shows that younger children aren't as

likely to transmit the virus and need to return to the classroom.

The infection rate within the community was previously too high to reopen, according to city leaders.

The lower grades are less exposed. They're also the citizens of our city who are losing the most

grounds by not being in school. The earlier years of the child's education are some of the most

important years, and these kids are almost a year

behind now, said Mayor Kenny. As for vaccinations, more than 330 school nurses in Philadelphia

received their first dose of the vaccine last week. Right now, city leaders said it could be

several weeks before teachers have access to the vaccine. The district's plan aligns with

President Joe Biden's efforts. Biden has made reopening schools a top priority within his first 100 days in office and said it's possible to return safely.

We need new ventilation systems in those schools.

We need testing for people coming in and out of those classes.

We need testing for teachers as well as students, Biden said.

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