| Standard-Times
After the holiday break, some districts are looking to delay the return to in-person learning.
New Bedford Public Schools, after switching to remote learning on Dec. 21, will continue to meet virtually the week of Jan. 4 and return in person on Jan. 11. The decision to return later was made during the school committee meeting on Dec. 14 after discussion of the holiday break raised concern about the rising number of cases.
“We know at this point, staff is equipped, students will have all their tools to be able to do those things at home,” said Superintendent Thomas Anderson at the meeting. “If something changes, we’ll have that discussion.”
Dartmouth Public Schools has also decided to remain remote and will delay returning to the hybrid model until Jan. 11. At the Dec. 21 school committee meeting, Superintendent Bonny Gifford said she would like the district to return similar to the way students did in the fall with special education students returning in person and the other cohorts remoting in every day. If it deems safe to return on Jan. 11, DPS will return to its hybrid schedule. Parents have responded favorably to this decision announced on social media.
“We want kids in school, we can all agree on that, but we want to be able to manage the staffing, manage the contact tracing and take the advice from the board of health,” Gifford said.
DPS will have a COVID hotline available during the holiday break to report positive cases and close contact identification, monitored daily in preparation for school reopening.
At this time, Fairhaven Public Schools is scheduled to return to alternating hybrid cohorts on Jan. 3. At the school committee meeting on Dec. 16, Superintendent Robert Baldwin discussed the class sizes for January. FPS uses TEC Connections Academy Commonwealth Virtual School (TECCA) for its remote learning platform and Baldwin estimates there will be three to four students joining TECCA and 13 to 14 returning to the hybrid model.
“We have been contacting families about remote learning proactively for a while now,” Baldwin said. “We did prioritize high-needs students. It’s been a very small and slow process.”
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Baldwin said there is a significant difference of those coming back to the hybrid model than those leaving and joining TECCA.
Districts have been worried about the rising number of cases, especially after returning from Thanksgiving break.
“It is about personal responsibility,” Anderson said. “If we’re not all taking that ownership of what it is, it’s making it really hard to keep schools open the way we need to. There is no do over.”
