Published August 13, 2020
By MAUREEN DOHERTY
NORTH READING — By a 5-0 vote last Friday morning, the School Committee approved the district’s finalized re-opening plan for submission to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). As expected, it favors a hybrid model combining in-person and remote learning for most students.
About half of students in grades 1-12 will attend school Mondays and Tuesdays (Cohort A) with the other half attending Thursdays and Fridays (Cohort B), with each cohort alternating every other Wednesday for in-person or remote learning. Remote sessions will be much more structured than they were last spring, with attendance taken, assignments given and participation in the sessions required for a complete school day.
Arrangements are being made to have all pre-K and kindergarten students attend in-person five days per week. Informational sessions for parents of students in this age group are now being arranged. Additionally, Cohort-C will include five days per week of in-person learning for students on IEP or structured learning plans while Cohort D will be comprised of students participating remotely five days per week.
To make this all happen, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Patrick Daly noted that the 1:1 digital learning program will be expanded to get a device into the hands of students in all grades.
Last week, DESE announced it was giving districts more time to complete their plans, which are now due Friday, Aug. 14, but North Reading’s was completed based on the original timeline. The state withheld releasing comments on all preliminary plans previously until Monday night.
All of these changes are still subject to collective bargaining as they represent changes to working conditions. Numerous collective bargaining sessions have been scheduled between district administrators and the unions.
Updates to the plan released by the district since last week include the following:
The district will consider a variety of health and safety benchmarks in order to determine whether there is a need to transition back to full in-person learning for all students or to remote learning for all students. Included in this review will be:
• Requirements from the Governor of Massachusetts or the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE)• Changes to the data and safety benchmarks for the town of North Reading or the commonwealth of Massachusetts
• COVID-19-related events in the town’s schools or district
• The metrics to be used to determine these shifts will be shared by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). Currently, the district has been told that being below a 5% positivity rate is significant data to support reopening.Student devices
In order to support hybrid learning, our existing 1:1 program currently in grades 7-12 will be extended to include all students in grades K-12. In the coming weeks students who do not currently have a district-issued device will be contacted about the next steps in this roll-out process.
Q: What are the changes to the school calendar for 2020-21?
• This year the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), through the Commissioner of Education, announced that the required number of school days for students is reduced from 180 to 170
• This decision was made to allow staff to begin training and professional development for 10 days prior to the start of the year for students• The first day for teachers will be Tuesday, September 1.
• The first school day for students will be Thursday, September 17, with Cohorts B and C in-person and Cohorts A and D remote (the town’s requested one-day waiver for the first day of school was approved).
• On Monday, September 21, Cohort A will begin in-person along with Cohort C while Cohorts B and D are remote
• All students in Cohorts A, B and C will be invited to attend smaller group visits to their school on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, September 14, 15 and 16. More information will be forthcoming from the individual schools as these dates approach.
Q: What Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is required?
• All students and staff will be required to wear masks that cover the nose and mouth. (Presently, neck gaiters do not qualify.)
• Students with medical exceptions will be permitted certain accommodations.
Q: Which grades are able to return in person five days per week?
A: At this time we will be able to accommodate Pre-K and kindergarten in-person five days per week. The details of this model are still being designed at this time and more information will be communicated soon to parents and families. We are also continuing to explore the possibility of bringing additional grade levels back as well.
Q: When will students be informed of their cohort assignments?
A: Students in Cohort C will be notified by the Student Services Office the week of August 10. All other students will be notified soon thereafter of their placement in Cohort A, B or D. Students will be placed in Cohort D based upon the selection of this Cohort by parents completing the district’s survey.
Q: Are cohort placements final?
A: The district will determine those students eligible for Cohort C and notify those families. At any time parents and families may decide to send their student(s) remotely in Cohort D (full remote) and need only notify the district. For the purposes of inclusion, students assigned to Cohort C will also be sub-assigned to Cohort A or B.
Those parents who have indicated an interest in Cohort D (full remote) will have the option of changing their decision at any time. A reasonable period of transition will be established to welcome the student back into the hybrid or full in-person model. To ease in this transition, students in Cohort D will also be sub-assigned to Cohort A or B. Students assigned to either Cohort A or B will not be able to switch between Cohorts.
Assignments will be made on a variety of factors, including busing, scheduling and access to specialized programs to meet student needs.
Unless parents and families notified the district otherwise in the July 31 survey, siblings will be assigned to the same cohort (A or B).
Due to the complexities of this process it is very difficult to make adjustments across all five schools. Any further requests due to hardship or extenuating circumstances should be directed to the school principal and we will take them under consideration, but changes cannot be guaranteed.
Q: How am I able to select Cohort D (full remote) if I do not know exactly what the academic program will look like this year?
A: It is important to think about the decision to choose Cohort D as a safety decision. We are offering a full remote option as this “must be available for individual students who cannot yet return in-person, and for all students in the event of future classroom or school closures due to COVID-19.”
At this time students in Cohort D will be considered to be a part of their regular classes and will receive the same support daily that students in Cohorts A and B will receive on the days when they are not in-person. If the plans for this academic program change we will communicate this to parents and families immediately.
Q: Are there any options for working parents?
A: At this time we are in conversations with community partners (YMCA, Recreation) about a fee-based option for working parents where students could attend in-person on the days of remote learning and receive assistance accessing their assignments. More details will be available soon and a question in the August 11 survey will address this specifically to gauge interest in the community.
Q: Is there any specific guidance for masks for students and staff?
A: We completely understand the challenges that students and staff face when wearing a mask but we are following the guidance that “our environment will be safer the more students and staff wear a mask throughout the day.”
All students and staff K-12 will be required to wear a mask (with medical exceptions only). However, we will be reasonable in allowing frequent mask breaks and opportunities for students.
Masks should be provided by the student/family and reusable masks should be washed by families daily. In addition there will be some additional PPE available for students at the schools if they are in need. More guidance will be available soon about appropriate face coverings but they must cover the nose and mouth. As of August 11, 2020, neck gaiters are not appropriate for this purpose.
Q: What about students who need a medical waiver for the mask requirement?
A: Students requesting a waiver for medical reasons can begin this process by indicating on the August 11 survey that they wish to begin the process of requesting a waiver for wearing a mask for medical reasons.
Additional information
Parents and families are invited to read the information on the district’s reopening website at: https://sites.google.com/nrpsk12.org/nrps-reopening-2020/home containing all of the information to review, including the district’s final reopening plan, videos, links to resources and more.
After reviewing the information parents are asked take the online August 11 survey at: https://bit.ly/3kCOpWg to further help the district complete the planning process.