BOSTON (WHDH) - The Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education is set to vote Friday on emergency regulations that would allow the state education commissioner to decide when hybrid and remote learning won’t count toward learning hours.
Under the proposed regulations, Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Jeff Riley would have to consult with health and medical experts and show students can safely attend in-person classes.
If Riley were to conclude that students may safely attend classes in an in-person setting then, “after providing written notice to the Board, I may notify districts that they may no longer use hybrid or remote learning models to meet the minimum school year and structured learning time requirements set forth in the regulations,” he wrote in a memo to members of the board Wednesday.
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“If (the emergency regulations are) adopted, they will result in more students returning to full-time, in-person learning with appropriate school-based mitigation measures in place, as COVID-19 health indicators continue to improve,” the memo continued.
Proposed amendments include a waiver process to address circumstances in which districts make a case for an incremental approach, and would permit the commissioner to advance a phased-in approach to distinguish between elementary schools, middle schools and high schools.
Under the rules, parents and guardians will have the option for the rest of this school year to select a remote learning model for their children, and learning hours for those students will continue to count for structured learning time.
According to Riley, he plans to pursue a graduated approach if granted the new regulatory powers by the board, with an initial focus on bringing all elementary school students back to in-person learning five days a week in April.
Meanwhile, Gov. Charlie Baker voiced his frustrations with the national vaccine rollout after touring a vaccination site in Lawrence Thursday.
“I think it’s unfair that I can’t vaccinate everyone in Massachusetts that wants to get vaccinated, but it’s a fact,” he said.
The state opened up 12,000 COVID-19 vaccine appointments at mass vaccination sites Thursday but the slots quickly filled due to high demand and limited federal supply.
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This comes as one mass vaccination sites shifts out of Fenway Park and into the Hynes Convention Center beginning March 18.
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Fenway will take its last patient on March 27, providing some overlap.
Anyone scheduled for a second dose at Fenway after the park closes will have their appointment honored at the convention center.
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