Phoenix Union High School District in central Phoenix will remain closed to face-to-face instruction through the end of 2020, according to a district statement. 

Classes will remain virtual through Phoenix Union’s second term, which starts in October and ends in December. The district has vowed to improve virtual services for students as the year continues.

This means Phoenix Union, which serves more than 27,000 high school students, will have operated online for most of 2020, since March. 

The district’s neighborhoods are “among the hardest hit by COVID,” according to the announcement.

Chad Gestson, Phoenix Union’s superintendent, said in a video announcement that COVID-19 spread remains substantial in the ZIP codes the district serves, in south Phoenix, central Phoenix and Maryvale. The district is relying on state health benchmarks, which signal when spread has slowed enough to resume face-to-face instruction, in making the decision to remain closed

Maricopa County is crunching the numbers at a district-by-district level: Spread in Phoenix Union neighborhoods is categorized as moderate. 

The announcement comes as other school districts, especially in suburban areas of Mesa and Gilbert, have begun to reopen for in-person classes. Districts with lower percentages of low-income students are reopening faster than those with higher percentages, even though many advocating for reopening say in-person classes will benefit vulnerable students the most.

An income divide in reopening

An Associated Press-Chalkbeat analysis found that in schools across the country, Hispanic and Black students were more likely than white students to start the school year online than in-person. 

In metro Phoenix, schools appear to be reopening following a similar trend. Queen Creek Unified, one of the first districts to reopen, serves nearly 70% white students, compared with Phoenix Union, in which 80% of students are Latino. 

Gestson, in an interview with The Arizona Republic on Sept. 4, said many of his district’s parents are essential workers, in jobs where they had more opportunities to contract COVID-19. 

“A lot of those essential workers unfortunately work low-wage jobs, and a lot of low-wage earners live in low-income communities,” he said. “So your job is to put yourself on the front line every day. You are more likely to contract COVID, more likely to bring that back to your community.” 

Reach the reporter at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @LilyAlta.

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