WASHINGTON — The share of school districts continuing to offer virtual-only instruction to students fell below 10 percent for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began, according to statistics on pandemic schooling compiled weekly by the data firm Burbio. That signals a tenuous return to normal for all but a few regions on the West Coast and in the Northeast.
“That virtual ring is narrowing,” said Burbio co-founder Dennis Roche. “That is a big deal.”
Those holdouts, however, are among the most densely populated regions of the country, while many districts have returned only haltingly, with only a few hours of in-person instruction per week. And some parents who have