LETTER: PIONEER VALLEY PARENTS CALL FOR EXPANSION OF HOME INTERNET ACCESS FOR PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS

Editor’s note:  A version of this letter was sent to Senator Jo Comerford,  Representative Mindy Domb, and Representative Lindsay Sabadosa

We are aware of the current state of emergency and that ensuring adequate medical testing and hospital care is now the highest priority. Concerning the public education of Massachusetts’ children, this letter proposes and discusses a series of next steps, including: 

1. Urging the state to work with internet service providers to expedite service expansion to all public/charter school students in the Commonwealth at their homes, including emergency measures to provide infrastructure in rural areas. We also ask the state to negotiate reduced, bundled access rates on behalf of school districts, and to expedite distribution of federal funds that will enable districts to rapidly provide connectivity and equipment. 

2. Calling for immediate development and communication of virtual curricula on Covid-19, general health and first aid appropriate for grades K-12. 

3. Asking school districts and charter schools to recruit and screen community volunteers who could help to host/lead virtual student gatherings and assist with class delivery if needed.

4. Calling for creation of State task forces on temporarily reconfiguring school building use, programs and school transportation services, in order to limit contagion when schools reopen.

We are aware, and deeply appreciate, that substantial efforts are underway to increase virtual learning and enrichment for the state’s children. We’d like to share suggestions, acknowledging that these and other efforts may be in progress:

1. HEALTH CURRICULA. Immediately begin to identify and/or develop appropriate health, hygiene and first aid virtual learning curricula for K-12, in concert with health officials, plus materials for specifically children that can be shared via television and print media.  Our understanding is that the pandemic has not yet reached its peak in the U.S., and some families may not receive accurate information about the transmission of Covid-19.  The state should begin to deliver information to public school students about how to limit viral transmission in family settings. Given that citizens are being advised to avoid hospitals when possible, families may be managing other ailments and minor injuries at home. Teenagers in particular may be called upon to help take care of an injured or sick child or adult. They need instruction about general home care, protecting themselves from infection, and basic first aid. They also need to know the physical signs that indicate a need for immediate medical intervention. Health curricula should also provide children with recommendations that will help them protect their psychological well-being under the current, difficult circumstances. Students could also benefit from virtual instruction in practical tasks, including cooking and kitchen safety, as some students may need to prepare food for themselves or family members. 

2. INTERNET ACCESS. We must try to assure that every school-age child in the Commonwealth has both the equipment and service to access the internet. Students need the ability to communicate with classroom teachers, along with school resource and counseling staff, educational specialists, health care providers and emergency personnel if needed. Providing home internet service and access for all K-12 children, although doubtless a very challenging task, would reduce isolation, vastly improve future education-related communication, and create needed infrastructure for when public schools must close for other emergencies.   It is our understanding that the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act includes education stabilization funds that may be used to buy broadband connectivity and educational technology including computers, tablets, software, and hotspots, plus professional development to support online learning.

Internet service providers have also indicated a willingness to help, and Comcast is providing free internet access for 60 days for new low-income customers. We hope the state will move swiftly to partner with all major internet service providers, in a comprehensive plan to assure full coverage across Massachusetts, and access for all public school families including those unable to pay. (We will note that a variety of methods of providing internet service to unserved homes can be analyzed and deployed. These may include: cable/broadband, cellular WiFi/MiFi, fiber optic to the home, and satellite internet.) We are pleased that individual districts are attempting to inventory student Internet access and laptop ownership, and to obtain laptops for distribution. The State could consider a bulk purchasing plan, and districts could seek equipment donations from charitable foundations and manufacturers.  

3. VIRTUAL CONTENT ACQUISITION. Consider expansion of the State’s relationship with public or private educational content providers with records of supplying high-quality remote learning opportunities.

To  expand remote learning opportunities, State education officials can draw upon their experience with Massachusetts’ current virtual public schools: the TEC Connections Academy of Commonwealth Virtual School and Greenfield Commonwealth Virtual School.  They can also examine virtual school best practices in states such as Florida and North Carolina with high virtual school enrollments, and  research proven methods for delivering educational content remotely to diverse learners in equitable and engaging ways. The state could also investigate the bulk purchase of classes in critical content areas from private educational content providers, or negotiate discounted rates for districts. 

4. VOLUNTEER RECRUITMENT. Communities may have parents and guardians able to assist in providing opportunities for virtual student interaction and content delivery and other tasks. Districts must begin recruiting and organizing volunteers, who, with staff guidance, could host virtual student meetings. A pool of screened community volunteers could also yield candidates for substitute online teaching.

5. PHYSICAL BUILDING AND PROGRAM TASK FORCES. Create task forces to envision major possible building and program reconfiguration plans, which may be needed to enable schools to reopen in limited or phased form in the fall of 2020 and/or during 2021. This may include a plan to repurpose staff from agencies that handle building and construction.   Until an effective vaccine is developed, school districts may need to dramatically alter their functioning to enable children to continue on-site learning, potentially in small groups where contagion could more quickly be identified and contained.  In tandem with health officials, the State could determine a “safer” number for class sizes – for example, 5 to 10 students and a single teacher, with students to remain with one teacher for the entire day. This would require middle and high schools to shift abruptly to a similar model as elementary schools; and waiver of subject-area teacher licensing requirements. 

Another possible means of reducing class sizes and numbers of people present in buildings could be to alternate physical attendance with virtual learning – for example, half a class physically attending during the 1st and 2nd weeks of the month; and the other half, the 3rd and 4th weeks.  To have all children in smaller physical classes would require many more teachers on staff in each district. The State may want to consider expediting licensing for education students, recalling retired teachers, and aggressively recruiting new substitute teachers. 

The small-class model would also require creation of additional separated classroom spaces, perhaps through immediate addition of temporary or permanent interior walls in buildings where possible; and purchase or rental of portable classrooms to be located on school grounds and other public land if needed. Use of other available publicly-owned buildings could be considered. Student flow in and out of buildings would require increased structure and monitoring, to eliminate or drastically reduce hallway mingling. Cafeteria workers could deliver lunches to all classrooms individually, to be eaten in the classrooms. 

6. TRANSPORTATION TASK FORCE. Create a task force on restructuring school transportation temporarily. The state and districts could consider long-term rental of vans and cars, to be used in lieu of school buses, to limit the number of children transported together at any one time; and create entirely new routes, so that children who are assigned to a single classroom are “bused” together.  Investigation is needed into how best to quickly disinfect vehicles, to enable rapid reuse. All families able to provide transportation for their own children should be encouraged to do so, and establishment of self-contained neighborhood car-pooling groups could also be considered.

What follow here are more general suggestions:

MCAS. We are aware that Education Commissioner Jeffrey Riley has contacted federal officials seeking waiver of the MCAS requirement for this year, and trust that it will be granted, given the numerous current obstacles to academic testing. Depending on how long schools must be closed, and the extent to which learning can resume in coming months, we believe it may be prudent to seek a waiver for 2021 as well.

S
GRADUATION. The pandemic has made it impossible to safely deliver substantive public school instruction statewide since March 13, with some schools having closed days before. Widespread distance learning efforts will only begin in April, and will not be without challenges. Content normally delivered in the second semester, at least in the later grades, may need to be delivered again in some districts. For that reason, districts could have the option of postponing the 2020 high school graduation until at least December. In such instances, the high school schedule for the next three years would be “off,” as a result, requiring mid-year graduations.  Although it is questionable whether it would be safe from a public health standpoint to hold mandatory summer school this year, the State could consider doing so in the summer of 2021, to provide “catch-up” time and reinstate the normal graduation schedule. 

Marla Goldberg-Jamate , Amherst
Claudia Bukszpan Rutherford, Conway
Helen Harrison, Florence
Hillary Haft Bucs, Southampton 
Sandra Dias, Holyoke