BOSTON (WHDH) - Friday was deadline day for schools in Massachusetts to submit their plans on how they will be teaching in the fall.
Brookline and Lawrence public schools announced Thursday that they will be taking the all-remote approach come fall, while New Bedford Public Schools have opted for a hybrid model that consists of remote and in-person learning.
Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Jeffrey Riley instructed school districts across the state to come up with plans for remote, hybrid, and in-person learning so they are prepared no matter what happens with the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I think the superintendents have done a great job of planning for the contingencies that we asked them to plan for,” he said.
Riley added that the state is trying to be respectful of the fact that communities have to make decisions that are best for them.
“We’re going to work to support all of our districts no matter what model they choose,” he continued.
The Worcester school committee voted unanimously to have students learn remotely for the first quarter of the school year, which ends in mid-November.
“I think it is the right decision,” Worcester Mayor Joseph Petty said. “Worked hard to get there. We worked for over three months to make this decision and I think it’s the right decision when you see what is happening in other school districts across the country.”
Boston proposed a plan Thursday to delay the start of the school year to Sept. 21 to offer teachers and staff more time to prepare and train for the upcoming year.
The school district has ruled out a full-time return and is instead considering remote and hybrid learning models.
During a rolling rally from Roxbury to City Hall, members of the Boston Teacher’s Union called on city officials to approve a fully remote plan that would eventually be followed by a phased return to in-person learning.
“I have hopes that we will start remote and I have hopes that a vaccine will come in time that we can reorient,” teacher Katie Mallon said. “But in the meantime, we are frightened.”
With 10 Massachusetts communities in code red, meaning average daily cases of the virus per 100,000 is greater than eight, guidelines suggest that those students should not return to school buildings in September. Those communities are Chelsea, Everett, Granby, Holyoke, Hull, Lawrence, Lynn, Revere, Salem, and Saugus.
The president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association is also concerned with in-person learning, since many educators come from all around the Commonwealth.
“Our educators live and work in different towns, they travel across borders and the COVID will travel with them,” MTA President Merrie Najimy said.
Najimy calls the governor’s map “misleading” and said “it’s one of multiple metrics that have to be measured” before kids can return to school.
(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)