SWAMPSCOTT — The Swampscott School Committee has adopted the superintendent’s recommended back-to-school plan.
Barring any changes in state or local COVID-19 guidelines and regulations, the school year will begin Wednesday, Sept. 16, with students learning entirely from home under a “remote-learning model.” Then, Monday, Oct. 26, the school district will switch to a “hybrid model,” with students only returning to school for three-hour periods four days of the week, Superintendent Pamela Angelakis said.
“We want time for the educators to get back to school, get assimilated, and then move into the hybrid model,” said Angelakis.
The remote-learning model that will be employed to start the year has students working from home beginning Sept. 16 in order to give more time for staff training. Students will have 20-minute classes with time in between classes to check work with teachers and ask questions. Wednesday will be a half day. Students will be provided laptops or iPads for at-home learning — software will be installed to make sure inappropriate websites are blocked, regardless of where the laptop is being used. Distribution plans are forthcoming.
When the hybrid model begins, the student population will be split in half. On Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, Group A students will attend school in person from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. From 11 a.m. to noon, the school will be cleaned, and from noon to 3 p.m. Group B students will attend school. Wednesdays will be a virtual half-day with the school undergoing a “deep cleaning” each Wednesday, Angelakis said.
While in school, students will be required to wear masks and socially distance, Angelakis said.
Leading up to the School Committee meeting Wednesday night, the Swampscott Education Association — the local teachers union — had voiced its opposition to reopening for fully in-person learning this fall, penning a letter calling for a remote-learning model.
At the meeting, teacher Tom Reid said reopening, “As a rule,” causes the number of COVID-19 cases to rise.
“Are we ready to have that in Swampscott?” Reid said. “Our answer is no.”
Many specifics are yet to be worked out about the remote-to-hybrid learning plan. The school district has to submit a more detailed plan to the state by Friday, Aug. 14, with an assessment of the buildings’ ventilation systems on Monday, Aug. 10 and a School Committee meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 12. Updates and more information will be posted online at www.swampscottps.org.
David McLellan can be reached at [email protected].
