PEABODY — This weekend marks the first time in nearly five months that the members of the Class of 2020 have been together.
Invited graduates and their families gathered at Coley Lee Field Friday night to celebrate its many accomplishments at Convocation, then the graduates were right back at it Saturday morning at Graduation.
With the district finally closing the door on a most unprecedented year, School Superintendent Dr. Josh Vadala and his leadership teams can now turn their full attention to the fall.
Like every district in Massachusetts, Peabody submitted its initial reopening plan to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) on July 31. At a school committee meeting July 24, Vadala said the submission was only a brief recap of the results of a reopening feasibility study. A full three-pronged proposal must be submitted to DESE by Aug. 10.
Vadala said the response to district-wide surveys sent to faculty, staff and families has been extremely positive.
“I am incredibly impressed with the response rate from our families. We have had nearly 3,100 families representing 4,800 students who responded,” Vadala said.
At the most recent School Committee meeting, the district unanimously approved the hiring of a Grade 4 teacher at the Carroll School and a school adjustment counselor to be based at the Higgins Middle School.
“As kids return to school, there will be a lot of trauma,” said Vadala. “Down the road if we have more money we can look at more schools’ positions.”
In a letter to families dated July 24, Vadala said the goal for the fall is the “safe return of as many students as possible to in-person school settings, to maximize learning and address our students’ holistic needs.”
The letter went on to say that a reopening task force has been created “to address policy and communication surrounding the return to school this fall,” and that various subcommittees are working on issues concerning professional development, transportation, facilities and operations, food services and alternative childcare options. Additionally, each school has developed its own implementation team consisting of administrators, teachers, parents and support staff.
At the meeting, Vadala said, from a feasibility standpoint, “we can fit all our students in our buildings with three-feet distancing if we were to bring kids back, face-to-face, in person.”
Vadala said that a hybrid remote and in-person plan based on six-feet distancing would result in having only 60 percent of the students back at the same time under a two-day on and two-day off plan. The district has also looked at a week-on, week-off plan and a half-day plan.
“The families really were looking at the two-on, two-off plan and that also had the faculty’s support,” Vadala said. “If we go to a hybrid model, we would likely be trending in that direction, but no decisions have been made.”
Plans to supply Chromebooks to every student are also in the works. Vadala said the district is “close” to securing a grant that would pay for them and increased band-width and hot spots across the city for those without internet access at home.
“We want to be able to prepare to either go remote or start out as a hybrid and then be able to flip the switch right away to remote in the event there is a COVID spike,” said Vadala. “With (Chromebooks), we would be much better prepared.”
Vadala gave a shout out to Mayor Ted Bettencourt and the city for allocating relief funds to the schools.
“Many school districts have had to use their grants for PPE, so being able to not have to do that with this grant has allowed us to save jobs and really prepare so we can be successful when we go back,” Vadala said. “I want to put it out there how impressed I am with the city and how grateful I am to the Mayor.”
Anne Marie Tobin can be reached at [email protected].
