Charlie Baker’s administration is ordering K-8 public schools to reopen next month. Here’s what you need to know about the plan.

"Families should expect that districts may need to make challenging tradeoffs to accommodate the full in-person instructional mode."

Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration is moving ahead with its plan to order all K-8 public schools in Massachusetts in hybrid or remote learning models due to the COVID-19 pandemic to resume in-person classes five days a week next month.

After officials gave Education Commissioner Jeff Riley the authority last week to order elementary schools to reopen by April 5, the state’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education released more detailed guidance Tuesday afternoon outlining the roadmap for the return of additional grades and other logistics of the plan.

The controversial move to override local school officials’ decision-making power comes amid the Baker administration’s continued push to reopen schools, citing the adverse academic and mental health impacts of remote learning, as well as research suggesting that in-school transmission of COVID-19 is rare when safety measures are implemented.