Students who attend Birmingham schools will have the chance to return to their buildings for instruction next month. The Birmingham Public Schools board of education voted 5-2 at its Dec. 15 meeting to send K-8 students back to school in a hybrid model combining virtual learning and in-person instruction beginning Jan. 11. High school students are scheduled to return in a similar model Jan. 19. The plan — so long as COVID-19 conditions do not get worse — would see students in the elementary schools attend school in half-day cohorts, spending either the morning or afternoon in class and the other half of the day in online learning. Students in both the middle schools and high schools would attend school for full days twice a week, along with two days of virtual learning. All secondary students would learn virtually one day a week with students participating synchronously through Zoom, which is currently scheduled to be on Wednesdays.