DANVERS, MASS. (WHDH) - Teachers and parents rallied outside Danvers schools Monday, each with two different schools of thought on how the district should reopen this fall.
The School Committee approved a hybrid learning model but teachers said that their concerns were never heard. The local Teacher’s Association held a rally outside Holton Richmond Middle School calling on officials to switch to a remote-only learning plan for the upcoming semester.
They said safety is their top priority and they have some real concerns regarding the school’s ventilation system.
“We have some beautiful new buildings, but we also have some old buildings,” Jody Sheehan, Vice President of the Danvers Teacher’s Association, said. “So, we’re very concerned about ventilation and we would just like to hear from outside experts that it truly is safe in our classrooms.
Parents held a counter rally in support of the School Committee’s decision and said it is time for their kids to go back to school.
“I can’t teach them. I have a full-time job,” mother Ellen Dugas said. “They need to get back for that social and emotional situation too. It’s not just about being back in school and learning.
In a statement, the Chair of the Danvers School Committee David Thomson said, “Starting the Danvers Public School year on September 16th in a hybrid model is far from ideal, but given the current environment it is the decision that has been made, along with the option for families to choose a fully remote model taught by Danvers educators.”
The teachers said they hope their rally will change the committee’s mind on the matter.
“Teachers were not given the chance to speak at the School Committee,” fourth grade teacher Katy Bullers said “Several teachers have asked several times to be able to have public comment and we are not able to do that.”
Parents said they were given the choice between hybrid learning and a fully remote model and believe the teachers should have that choice too.
“They should have that choice as well as the family,” parent Crystal Brennen said. “Right? But, if we want to send our kids and there’s teachers who want to go back in the classroom, they feel OK about that, then they should have the choice as well.”
Dugas said that staff and teachers from 73 communities work within the district in addition to two who are from out of state. She is calling on school officials to consider the COVID numbers coming from these areas as well as the ones reported in Danvers.
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