BOSTON (WHDH) - Boston parents said they’re unhappy Boston Public Schools is looking to delay the start of full-time, in-person learning for students in kindergarten through eighth grade.
Superintendent Dr. Brenda Cassellius submitted a waiver request Monday to Jeffrey C. Riley, commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education, seeking the return of students in kindergarten through eighth grade on April 26 as opposed to April 5 as required by the state.
“Beginning five days of full-time, in-person learning on April 26, immediately following BPS spring recess, will allow the district time to implement thorough operational preparation, communicate updates with families in a timely manner, and ensure most of our educators and staff have received vaccination for COVID-19,” she wrote.
Cassellius added that the Boston Teachers Union supports the district-wide return of grades kindergarten through eighth on April 26.
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education received 74 requests for K-5 elementary school delays statewide, and has approved 58, denied 6 and is still reviewing 10 — including Boston. But some parents, like Leslee Parker-Sproul, have started a petition asking the state to reject the waiver.
Parker-Sproul said she can finally concentrate now that her 7-year-old son is in school two days a week, and that he’s happier with in-person learning as well.
“He comes home on Tuesday after school and he’s like ‘When do I get to go back?’ like he doesn’t want to be sitting on the couch on his laptop staring at a screen,” Parker-Sproul said. “We’re allowing people from outside of the city to come into Fenway, to TD Garden, to all these restaurants … but yet the kids of the city, the children in this city aren’t allowed to be in their schools. It just seems like priorities are really off.”
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