BOSTON (WHDH) - A Boston school has requested state officials to count seven days of remote COVID-19 learning toward their required 180 days of structured learning time.
Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Jeffrey Riley wrote in a letter Thursday to Mayor Kim Janey, Boston School Committee Chair Jeri Robinson, and Superintendent Brenda Cassellius that he would only approve a limited structured learning time waiver request for up to four school days for the Curley K-8 School in Jamaica Plain.
This means the commissioner is granting four days rather than the seven the school requested.
Local and school officials had previously requested a seven-day waiver after announcing that the school would close for 10 days and transition to remote learning due to a recent COVID-19 outbreak.
Cassellius had reported that the school recorded 46 positive cases in a little more than two weeks.
Riley wrote in the letter to the local and school officials that it appeared the decision to close the Curley K-8 School took place without appropriate consultation with DESE.
DESE recommended on Nov. 4 that the school begin to quarantine individual classrooms where cases were most prevalent; however, the Boston team comprised of school district and local health officials indicated that the outbreak did not warrant this action at that time, Riley said.
On Nov. 8, BPS officials requested additional staffing support to assist with testing efforts at the school, in which DESE reportedly responded by doubling staff the following morning.
On the afternoon of Nov. 9, BPS announced the closure of the school building and a shift to remote learning with an intent to reopen the building on Nov. 22.
“It is possible that the spread of COVID-19 was truly so rapid that earlier mitigations would not have had an effect,” Riley wrote. “However, we are left to wonder if the whole school closure at the Curley could have been avoided if progressive interventions recommended by DESE were implemented last week, such as quarantining individual classrooms or grade levels.”
Riley added in the letter that “I am particularly concerned that remote learning will not fully meet the academic and social emotional needs of our students, especially students with disabilities, English learners, and other vulnerable students. In order to provide equitable access to high-quality learning for all, DESE stated as early as our May 27, 2021 guidance that remote learning would not count towards structured learning time for the 2021- 22 school year. It is critical that we continue to do everything possible to enable all students to attend school in-person.”
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