Published August 26, 2020
By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD — Further illumination was offered at last night’s School Committee meeting regarding school reopening plans. The committee also discussed the format of their own meetings.
Chair Aimee Purcell clarified that on Aug. 12 the School Committee voted to approve Superintendent Douglas Lyons’ recommendation for a phased-in, hybrid reopening.
Since then, she said that School Committee members have been getting questions from parents regarding school schedules. She stressed that the Aug. 12 vote was strictly to approve the phased-in, hybrid model and was not a vote on how each individual school schedule would look.
Lyons pointed to a draft of the school calendar that was distributed to committee members. He noted that the first day for teachers will be Sept. 2, when they will begin 10 days of professional development largely focused on the remote/in-person hybrid model and the technical aspects of implementing that model.
Assistant Superintendent Kara Mauro discussed some of the specifics of the training during those 10 days of teacher professional development. Included will be training on Google Classroom and Zoom for the remote instruction component. Mauro said that the 10 days will consist of mostly online sessions and will include a lot of technical support as well as opportunities for teachers to meet and collaborate.
Lyons talked about the need to create predictable schedules for teachers and families. He said that the administration has received the responses from surveys sent out last week asking families if their students would be participating in the hybrid model or the full remote model. He said that the information from those surveys will now allow schedules to be created and those schedules will be released next week.
Lyons said that from Sept. 17-28, all students will start remotely, which will provide schools with the opportunity to make sure that every student has the devices and internet access that they need.
At the same time, Lyons explained, staff will welcome some students in person during this time. Those will mainly be students new to the district or students starting at a new school, such as 5th graders at the Galvin or freshmen at the high school.
Health metrics permitting, the hybrid instruction model will begin on Tuesday, September 29.
Lyons noted that there will be the opportunity within the remote instruction model for teachers to offer feedback to students that will ultimately lead to grades.
He said that the plan is to provide in-person services to special education students who need to be in school or don’t do well with the remote model.
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The superintendent also discussed work that has taken place over the summer at several school buildings. He said that the second and final phase of the work to correct the settling problem at the Galvin Middle School is complete and went well and should resolve the settling issue.
Lyons said that the new roof at the Greenwood School is finished except for the metal coping. He said that the handicapped ramp has been installed and work on a new accessible bathroom is being completed this week.
He noted that an engineering firm will start today to do an independent assessment of the HVAC and ventilation systems in all of the schools. He anticipated that there will be things that will need to be corrected as a result.
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Purcell addressed the format for School Committee meetings, noting that when restrictions loosened somewhat, the committee went to a “hybrid” form of meeting with some members and administrators in the WCAT studio and some joining the meeting remotely via Zoom teleconferencing.
School Committee member Thomas Markham said that he did not care for the split format, with some members in the studio and some joining via remote connection. He asserted that the format does not lend itself to all members being able to participate and follow along in the same way.
Markham said that he would prefer that the School Committee meet with everyone in person if possible. Otherwise, he said that he would prefer that everyone participate remotely.
Committee member Colleen Guida asked if that included administrators. Markham said that he would prefer committee members and administrators to all meet in person or all remotely.
School Committee member Suzy Veilleux said that she had pushed for getting the meetings back into the WCAT studio based on the idea that if it’s okay for schools to reopen, then members of the committee ought to meet in in person.
It was noted that due to social distancing and guidelines limiting gatherings, plus the fact that WCAT staff needs to be in the studio as well, the number of people allowed in the studio is limited.
But Veilleux said that it might be time to take another look at how many people can fit in the studio with an eye toward getting the whole committee back together for meetings.
Markham said that he appreciated the optics of going back to school in person as it relates to the meetings. He suggested looking for an alternative space where more people could meet and still be within the guidelines.
Purcell said that she had discussed that possibility with WCAT General Manager Ryan Boyd several weeks ago and said that it might be time to take another look at the options available.
