BOSTON (WHDH) - LOWELL, MASS. (WHDH) -Calling it a looming “COVID crisis on campus” the Massachusetts Teachers Association held an emergency meeting online Monday.
The Massachusetts Teachers Association, which represents 18,000 faculty and staff at public universities, called for the hearing Monday to discuss safety priorities during the pandemic. They voiced their concerns about the back to school plans for the 29 public higher education institutions in the Commonwealth.
The teachers association is also troubled that the UMass budget that’s been cut by $264 million.
But most urgently, the MTA said students should only return to campus when it is safe.
“We only can bring people back to a situation that is safe,” MTA Vice President Max Page said.
UMass faculty and students are speaking out at a virtual emergency meeting over concerns about in-person learning as schools prepare for the fall semester.
UMass Lowell is planning to re-open with a hybrid model of in-person and remote learning, but researcher Thomas Estabrook said people at the school are wary of close contact.
“There’s a broader concern that the reopening is happening too fast,” Estabrook said.
Estabrook said one of the biggest concerns is proper ventilation in campus buildings.
“We are concerned that there are a number of buildings that don’t have the capacity to handle … having people working in them significantly and keeping everybody safe,” Estabrook said.
UMass President Marty Meehan will be listening to the concerns of students and staff at the meeting.
UMass Amherst has seen seven cases of the virus — without students even back on campus.
“Currently with minimal numbers of people on campus, we had multiple reports of people not wearing face coverings, gathering in large groups, and some altercations,” Outreach Coordinator for the School of Public Health and Health Sciences Risa Silverman said. “Just like we hear around the country, we multiply this by thousands there will be an outbreak.”
The president of UMass an the state’s education commissioner were invited to join the call Monday but declined.
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