WESTFIELD — Most city students will start school remotely on Sept. 14, then phase into a hybrid model that will have some return to the classroom as officials evaluate the coronavirus situation and determine whether the buildings are safe.
Westfield Technical Academy students will spend their shop weeks in the building and study remotely during academic weeks. Superintendent Stefan Czaporowski, formerly the academy’s principal, said that building’s shops are large enough for students to adhere to social distancing guidelines.
School Committee members voted unanimously Monday on a four-phase reopening plan after a four-hour meeting during which the discussion became heated at times.
All students and staff will be required to wear masks in the buildings, and students will also be required to wear masks while riding the school bus.
Desks in classrooms will be spaced 6 feet apart — which will present a problem for smaller schools such as Abner Gibbs Elementary and reduce class sizes to 10 students.
There are no dates set for the phases. The plan was developed with the help of city Public Health Director Joseph Rouse.
“We don’t have dates,” Czaporowski said. “It will be a standing School Committee agenda item, and we will revisit the subject regularly. We will ask Joe Rouse to join us and give us guidance.”
Rouse said he is most worried about the start of the school year, when students are returning from vacations and may unknowingly be infected with COVID-19.
“I loved the hybrid method until I realized the metrics of the situation when it was projected there would be an uptick in the fall,” Rouse said. “It makes perfect sense in the educator model, but in the public health sense there are concerns. We’re in a safe zone right now in Massachusetts, but there will be kids with families that went somewhere for vacation, and any model other than strict remote learning scares me.”
A map released by the state Tuesday classified Westfield as a low risk community, with an infection rate of fewer than four per 100,000 residents over the last two weeks.
Rouse suggested getting through the first two months of school remotely so that students do not bring the disease back from vacation.
“I’m more worried about the fall more than any other time, but if you said you would have classes remotely for a couple of months I could live with that,” he said.
Czaporowski said he is also worried about older students failing to follow the rules and not wearing masks. He added that about 20% of students and staff are at risk of contracting the coronavirus because of health issues and age.
“Our top priority is the safety of our students and staff,” he said. “These are not good times.”
The superintendent will submit the plan to the state Department of Secondary and Elementary Education on Friday.
School Committee member Diane Mayhew said she likes the hybrid model and moving forward slowly, and noted that students have suffered emotionally from not being is school.
“This is one of the most important decisions we as a committee are making in our tenure,” she said. “We can always come back at a later date after watching for three or four weeks and see how it goes.”
Related Content:
"plan" - Google News
August 12, 2020 at 07:25AM
https://ift.tt/3fMoZl9
Westfield schools adopt phased reopening plan - MassLive.com
"plan" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2un5VYV
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Westfield schools adopt phased reopening plan - MassLive.com"
Post a Comment