QUESTIONS, CONCERNS DOMINATE AS AMHERST PLANS FOR PUBLIC SCHOOL THIS FALL

AMHERST-PELHAM EDUCATION ASSOCIATION OPPOSES REOPENING SCHOOLS FOR IN PERSON INSTRUCTION 

It was an extremely busy week for the Amherst Regional Public School administrators and School Committees, as they forged ahead with plans to dramatically restructure school spaces and schedules with the goal of in-person learning this fall. 

On Tuesday, July 7, the Amherst-Pelham Education Association (APEA), a union representing staff in the local public schools, announced that it will fight the district’s plan to re-open the school buildings, despite numerous measures underway to try and limit COVID-19 transmission. 

“We … stand in opposition to returning to in-person learning in the fall of 2020. We call on the district to work together with us, without further delay, on improving, refining and setting standards for distance learning,” the union wrote. The APEA’s full statement was posted on Facebook, and submitted to the Amherst-Pelham Regional School Committee. 

Administrators presented a school space reconfiguration plan to the regional and local Amherst and Pelham school committees on Tuesday night. The plan includes moving the 5th and 6th grades out of Crocker Farm Elementary and into Amherst Regional Middle School. Officials said the shift is among several changes necessary to assure six-foot distancing between desks in all school buildings, although space issues at the middle school itself may lead to just part-time in person learning for all 7th and 8th graders. 

Then, on Wednesday, July 8, Amherst Regional High School Principal Gene T. Jones, who was in the job for just one year, announced his resignation via email to the high school community. Jones has taken a job as a high school principal in Lexington City, N.C.  Amherst Regional Public School (ARPS) officials made no announcement this week about how the district plans to handle the vacancy. Jones’ resignation is effective July 24. 

Meanwhile, about 475 viewers combined tuned in on Thursday, July 9 to “ARPS Community Town Halls” hosted by the school committees about fall reopening plans. Parents and ARPS staff members, who typed into an online chat field, raised questions about building ventilation, bus transportation, and curriculum issues, among other subjects. The Town Halls included a noontime session on the Wildwood, Fort River, Crocker Farm and Pelham Elementary Schools, and another session at 5 PM about middle and high school preparations.

Regional School Committee Chair Allison McDonald told Town Hall viewers that the committees are creating a framework which calls for protecting staff and student safety, maximizing in-person learning time with six-foot distancing, and delivering the highest quality distance-learning experience possible.

The draft framework calls for elementary students to get in-person instruction four to five days a week, and middle and high-school students two days per week, with online instruction on other days. A plan will be created for a possible full transition to distance learning in case of a COVID-19 outbreak. (The draft framework begins on page 2 here.)

Generally, the school committees have agreed to prioritize in-person learning for elementary school pupils, along with students with special needs and English-language learners. 

McDonald and school staff told the Town Hall viewers that distance learning this fall will be “greatly improved” from the emergency remote instruction which took place last spring.  State officials have acknowledged that remote learning across Massachusetts was uneven, with notable differences in how much contact and instruction was provided from one district and school to the next. 

Morris said that ARPS distance learning in the fall will feel more similar to the district’s ordinary functioning.

“There will be grades, there will be attendance taken in a formal way,” he said.

Morris acknowledged there was “learning loss” in the spring, and students will need time to catch up. 

The local union’s opposition to physical re-opening comes despite the district’s plans to reduce COVID-19 risks by use of face masks, handwashing at least three times per day, spacing students out more, and ending use of windowless classrooms. Walls and new duct work are being built at Fort River and Wildwood, while the district will also repurpose cafeterias, music rooms and other spaces as classrooms to enable distancing.

The district is also discussing later start times, to allow teachers more time for training and planning. 

The APEA, in opposing physical reopening, has gone somewhat farther than the umbrella Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA), which  represents 110,000 members in nearly 400 local associations statewide. The MTA, which announced its disappointment in late June with re-opening guidance from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, has stopped short of blanket opposition to physical re-opening.  

The APEA represents teachers, clerical workers, and paraeducators who work for Amherst Regional High School, Summit Academy, Amherst Regional Middle School, and Crocker Farm, Fort River, Wildwood, and Pelham Elementary Schools.

Morris read the APEA statement aloud at Tuesday’s meeting, among other public comments, including a handful from staff in support of the APEA’s stand. Morris expressed reluctance to address detailed prospects for balancing remote learning with in-person attendance, referring to union negotiations now underway. However, Morris noted that it is difficult to run two parallel systems well simultaneously. 

The APEA cites the current rise in COVID-19 cases throughout much of the U.S., and the surge’s link to “premature re-opening of communities,” as a main reason that members believe it is “unsafe”  for students and staff to return. 

Morris and the School Committees acknowledged that the fall plans will be dictated by the pandemic’s status at the time, and that if physical schools reopen for a while, they may need to close again in case of an outbreak. Individuals or groups of students or staff might be quarantined periodically. “We are going to have to plan for all contingencies,” Morris said. 

The APEA lists “grave concerns,” including the prospect of staff traveling between multiple buildings, and cites an unspecified “lack” of district-provided personal protective equipment, although $240,000 has been spent on masks, gowns, hand sanitizer and other items. The union predicts it would be “unmanageable” for its staff to enforce state guidelines on social-distancing and mask-wearing. Those guidelines “create an environment where teachers become little more than enforcement officers, tasked with policing students’ bodies and behaviors as opposed to being educators,” the union stated.

The APEA said its members include staff who are older or medically vulnerable, and those who live with people who are at high risk for severe illness.  As the coronavirus continues to spread rapidly throughout the U.S., “the only safe option is to plan for improving distance learning,” according to the APEA. 

School Committee member Peter Demling of Amherst said the COVID-19 health concerns are certainly valid, but must be carefully weighed against the  “potentially unrecoverable” educational loss if children cannot physically return to school. 

“Any model that we’re talking about implementing is going to increase the health risks for students and staff,” Demling said, adding that a difficult balance is necessary. “We’re trying to thread this needle,” he said. 

McDonald noted that despite surging cases in many states, Massachusetts appears to be holding steady with a low daily case count. “We’re not Florida, we’re not Texas,” she said. 

Spitzer urged the committee to think about the potentially vulnerable family members of both students and staff, saying that she did not want teachers or children to have to socially-distance themselves from their families at home. 

A fall planning website for the Amherst Regional Public Schools is under  construction here.

The next meeting of the School Committees is set for Tuesday, July 14 at 6:30 PM., and the agenda can be found here. McDonald said the Committees will attempt to address many issues raised at the Town Halls at Tuesday’s meeting.