SWAMPSCOTT — When school resumes this fall, students will either be learning in-person entirely, staying at home and learning remotely, or some combination of the two.
School officials are developing three potential models for returning to school in the fall. A “return-to-school district task force” consisting of the superintendent, town administrator, School Committee members, parents, and other town and school officials has been set up to evaluate the best options for education during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Superintendent Pamela Angelakis said, in addition to school-specific reopening task forces.
With much left to be decided, the School Committee gave parents a chance to voice their comments and concerns at the most recent virtual meeting.
“Everyone’s talking about getting another wave of this virus in the fall,” said Tasia Vasilou, who recommended the school district take advantage of more “outdoor learning” if students return to school in person in order to prevent the spread of the virus.
Vasilou said she would like to see more hand-washing stations in the schools, as well as a “great deal of communications to families and parents” if a student is sent home due to COVID-19 symptoms.
Keiko Zoll, who has a daughter going into second grade at Stanley School, said she is especially concerned about younger students, who “need the most educational support,” this fall, not just because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but because the school district saw $381,000 in cuts this past Town Meeting.
Another parent, Joanna Marino, said she has two sons, one entering kindergarten and one entering preschool, and that remote learning this spring was “a poor substitute” for live teachers. Marino said her children are good about wearing masks, and she doesn’t think people should automatically assume young children won’t wear masks if they return to school this fall.
“I think it was sort of written off a lot, that the younger kids won’t be able to wear masks or socially distance, but I think we’ve been very transparent with our kids about keeping safe,” she said.
Another parent, Vanessa Cavalho, said she has opted not to send her daughter to kindergarten this year if it is in person, and was assured by Angelakis the student would be welcomed back the following year.
“What I want the community to understand iis every district is in the same position,” Angelakis said.
Angelakis said there are weekly meetings with the state’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner (DESE) Jeffrey Riley, and that a number of considerations have to be made for each of the potential models for education this fall. For example, DESE is leaving it up to districts to decide whether the minimum social distancing requirement should be 3 feet, 4.5 feet, or 6 feet if an in-person model is chosen. The School Committee unanimously favored a 6-feet minimum distance for the in-person learning model.
School Committee member Amy O’Connor said she was disappointed in the lack of direction from the state, and was surprised DESE is leaving it up to districts to set a minimum social distancing requirement for in-person learning. O’Connor said she hadn’t heard of a 3-feet minimum distance requirement “anywhere” and was wondering why it was an option.
“For God’s sake, we’re overseers, not medical professionals,” she said.
There were at least 208 attendees at the virtual School Committee meeting, which Angelakis said is an attendance bigger than she can recall ever at a School Committee meeting.
The next Swampscott School Committee will be in the first week of August, and the reopening of schools this fall will be discussed further. Check www.swampscottma.gov for meeting listings, and visit tv.swampscottma.gov to watch meetings.
