When you look at the data, there is no evidence to support the decision by the Swampscott School Committee to start the school year fully remote for students.
Parents of Swampscott students feel our children are being held hostage by fear and an unwillingness to look past emotion and focus on what is really important, safely reopening schools for in-person classes.
Some information to chew on:
- 70 percent – the number of parents who want their children back in school every day (based on a school survey).
- Less than five – the number of COVID-19 cases in the past two weeks in Swampscott.
- Unshaded – the rating by the state of Massachusetts for current level of COVID-19 cases which gives only two options for the town to choose from – fully reopen or a hybrid schedule. Fully remote is not an option.
- 1,200 – the capacity for students at Swampscott High School.
- 500 – the actual number of students that would be attending high school this fall based on the survey response above (total enrollment currently 750).
- Vacant – the senior center attached to the High School has three activity/class rooms and a cafeteria that can seat 90.
Bottom line – there is enough room to provide a safe environment for students and teachers in the Kindergarten-12 system. Using outdoor space, mobile classrooms, gymnasiums, the senior center and
other available space make it possible.
Further, every other town in the unshaded category is opening either fully in-person or hybrid.
Why have they been able to figure out what Swampscott can’t (or won’t)?
Many towns with worse COVID-19 statistics than Swampscott, like Marblehead, are open for hybrid teaching from day one.
People need to keep the virus in perspective – even the towns designated as “red” on the state report only have eight or more cases per 100,000 residents (over the past two weeks).
According to state data, Swampscott has had fewer than five cases in the entire town over the past two weeks and a grand total of 152 since COVID began.
Further perspective:
- Since July, according to state data, less than 20 people per day are dying of COVID-19 (most recent day data was nine).
- 98 percent of deaths had an underlying condition.
- Zero deaths under the age of 20.
- Two deaths under the age of 80 since August 1.
Our goal is not to demean the seriousness of the COVID-19 virus, nor the lives that have been lost.
Rather, it is to paint a picture of how our lives shouldn’t be beholden to a virus that affects so few. Our children have been out of school for six months. They need our teachers to step up and educate, in person. These are the same teachers who just received a new three-year contract
with guaranteed pay raises.
Clearly, parental voices are not being heard, and science is being completely discounted.
If the School Committee and teachers are not willing to change course and offer, at a minimum, a hybrid program for all students from day one of school, we will explore our options to petition the State House and Gov. Baker for help, as well as potential legal avenues.
Barry Greenfield
Safely Open Schools (find us on Facebook)
Swampscott
