One week from today elementary school students will have their first day of in-person learning and officials hope it goes just as smoothly as Monday did when pre-K students went into classrooms for the very first time.

Temperature checks, masks and hand sanitizing stations are all efforts put in place to keep COVID-19 out of schools and keep students in the classroom.

The Department of Education is still promising easy access for students and staff to get tested for COVID-19 when needed.

It’s all hands-on deck for staff and school officials to make sure students and teachers’ health is first. On Monday, approximately 90,000 students returned to the classroom for the first day of school for District 75 schools and kids in pre-K, and 3K.

However, according to the latest Department of Education stats, despite safety efforts the number of students opting into fully remote learning continues to increase.

In just the last week, more than 30,000 students requested to be fully remote. The survey shows approximately 54% of students are returning to class.

It goes further and breaks it down into race, almost 41% of Hispanic students picked blended learning while 21% of black students and 11% of white students are opting for full remote. Regardless of what parents pick they still have the option to switch into remote learning at any time or opt for blended learning during certain parts of the school year.

President of the United Federation of Teachers Michael Mulgrew has been vocal about this year’s planning and says health continues to be the priority.

Schools officials are hoping systems like The Situation Room will provide quick information and solutions for parents and staff in terms of dealing with worst case scenarios and if someone tests positive.