Amherst Public Schools Shift Focus As State Directs Districts To Resume On-Site, Full-Time Classes For All Grades

It was a challenging week for the Amherst Regional Public Schools (ARPS) as the district set aside plans for remote and limited in-person instruction at its middle and high schools, and shifted focus to a state directive for all grades to return full-time this spring.

The new guidance from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) was unexpected, and differed from the models local administrators were developing.

“It was a surprise mandate,” said ARPS Superintendent Michael Morris at a Regional School Committee (RSC) meeting on Tuesday. 

Amherst Regional Middle School (ARMS) Principal Diego Sharon had sent a survey to families on Monday outlining a plan for two days per week in-person learning before the state guidance issued, and the high school was preparing to survey families about whether students wanted to be on-site. 

Meanwhile, plans for all ARPS elementary schools to reopen in April are proceeding. Elementary families were asked to respond to an electronic questionnaire by March 10 about their plans. The resulting data will be shared at an Amherst School Committee meeting next Tuesday, March 16 at 6 p.m.

Remote instruction could change for children who remain at home once the majority of students return to buildings. DESE is encouraging districts to use a “livestreaming” model, where classroom video is shared with those at home. The state is also asserting that schools can safely operate with three, rather than six feet of distance between students as long as other COVID-19 risk reduction strategies are upheld. 

ARPS Students Rose to Remote Learning Challenges With “Resilience And Strength” 
The district will mark a full year since schools closing due the COVID-19 pandemic on March 13.  At the time, with many unknowns about the virus’ spread, a tentative return date of March 30 was set. 

“It’s hard to believe that tomorrow will be the one-year anniversary of the day we left school … None of us could have anticipated the tremendous changes COVID-19 would bring to our lives,” wrote Superintendent Michael Morris in Friday’s ARPS Update. 

Most ARPS students have been learning remotely for a year, although some are being served at distance learning centers, and small numbers have returned (or will do so this month) to Crocker Farm and Wildwood elementary schools. 

“Our wonderful ARPS faculty and staff have worked diligently to meet students’ needs and provide them with high quality instruction,” Morris wrote, adding that faculty have delivered books and materials to students’ homes, and food service employees provided more than 200,000 meals at pick-up sites. “And most notably, our incredible ARPS students have risen to the challenges of remote learning with resilience and strength,” Morris stated. “Now it is time to look forward to the upcoming return to in-person learning.”

No Date Set By State for High School Return, But Districts Should “Start Making Plans”
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s COVID 19 Interactive Data Dashboard shows that based on seven-day averages, daily confirmed COVID-19 cases fell from a high of 6,241 on Jan. 8 to just 1,017 statewide on March 11. However, the latest count is still far above the July 4 seven-day average of 157 cases, when the pandemic in Massachusetts was at a low ebb.  

As COVID-19 numbers decline, the new state guidance dated March 9 set deadlines for resumption of full-time in-person school for grades K-5 by April 5, and grades 6-8 by April 28. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) did not set a date for high schools to return, but said it will announce “details and timing” in April, and give at least two weeks’ notice. School districts “should start making plans now,” for high schools, DESE stated, adding that any deviation from full-time, in-person instruction will require a waiver. 

Non-compliance by a school district could lead to penalties from the State, Morris said, including the prospect of additional school days next year, and even a reduction in aid. 

“There’s no flexibility, really in this directive,” said RSC Chair Allison McDonald.

Teachers’ Union, State Representatives Seek to Delay Return Until At Least April 26
Meanwhile, the Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA) has called on Gov. Charlie Baker to delay the school reopening dates until after April school vacation, or April 26, at the earliest. “This would give staff more time to receive at least one dose of the vaccine and give communities more time to plan for the transition,” stated MTA President Merrie Najimy in a press release. 

Teachers and school staff became eligible to sign up for vaccine appointments on March 11, thereby adding themselves to hundreds of thousands already in the queue. This week, the state has set aside four dates for school and childcare workers at its mass vaccination sites, including the Eastfield Mall in Springfield. The dates include March 27, and April 3, 10 and 11, when up to 25,000 first-dose shots are expected to be available to school and childcare employees. However, there are an estimated 400,000 people in those categories, meaning that many would be required to return to school buildings unvaccinated if DESE’s return dates remain unchanged. (A related article is here.)

Baker has resisted the MTA’s call to divert vaccines from major sites to smaller ones that would be specifically for school employees. The majority of teachers are under 65, and the state can’t take vaccines away from those more at risk of severe disease, Baker’s administration has said. (See article here.)

There is discussion among state representatives about delaying the statewide school reopening order for a month or more, including a statement by House Speaker Ron Mariano, D-Quincy that teachers should not be made to return unvaccinated. A bill called the “Act Relative to Safe Return of School” which seeks to delay the return to full, in-person education until April 26 was filed on Thursday by Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa, D-Northampton and Rep. James Hawkins, D-Attleboro. That bill, which has nine listed co-sponsors including Sabadosa, directs the Department of Public Health to ensure that school employees and all persons who volunteer in schools have equitable access to vaccines.

Local Teachers Have Questions About “Day-to-Day Logistics” 
The new state guidance and deadlines will be discussed by the Amherst School on March 16, and the Amherst-Pelham Regional School Committee on March 23.  The committees will also discuss the learning models for children who remain remote.

“We are excited to welcome students back to the buildings, maintain a high quality educational experience for caregivers who choose to keep their children in a remote learning setting, and will keep the community apprised of plans throughout the process.” Morris stated.

On March 2, RSC Chair McDonald announced that part of a Memorandum of Agreement with the teachers’ union, which had closed schools based on regional COVID-19 case numbers, was unenforceable and invalid, based on a Department of Labor Relations finding in a Melrose case. The RSC voted the next day for Morris to “develop and implement a plan for in-person learning for all students who want it.” That motion called for grades K-2 to return by April 5, grades 3-6 return by April 12, and grades 7-12 “returning by April 26 as (is) practical and feasible.” 

The local deadline for the upper elementary grades to return might have to be moved forward based on the new state guidance. 

The Amherst Pelham Education Association’s (APEA) representative council met Monday, where concerns were expressed over the rapidly-approaching deadlines, according to a press release. APEA members said they and many families have questions about “day-to-day logistics, teaching assignments, and thresholds for potential closures based on community COVID transmission.”

The invalid section of the agreement between the district and APEA called for ARPS buildings to close when the weighted regional COVID-19 caseload rose above 28 per 100,000 people over seven days.  A calculation link still on the APEA’s Facebook page shows the caseload number was at 135.6 per 100,000 people as of March 11.  

The APEA executive board is meeting regularly with Morris and Assistant Superintendent Doreen Cunningham “in a spirit of collaboration,” while the union’s “Proactive Planning Committee” is working on ideas for a safe return to in-person learning.  Although school building administrators have welcomed the APEA’s offer to work together on plans, teachers don’t have a role in the decision-making, and the APEA is concerned that outcomes “will not necessarily reflect teacher voices,” the press release stated. 

District Can’t Guarantee Six-Foot Distancing At High School 
Amherst Regional Middle School (ARMS) will submit a waiver to the state, requesting to operate initially with “a short term hybrid model,” to be followed by in-person instruction, Principal Diego Sharon stated in an email to families this week. “I strongly believe that such a tiered approach to returning to school is in the best interest of adolescent students,” he wrote. 

Morris had expressed concerns about in-person return at the high school, including the prospect of late-year schedule and course disruptions, along with COVID-19 transmission risks. The state is not yet accepting any waiver requests at the high school level, Morris stated in an email Friday. 

At the RSC meeting, High School Principal Talib Sadiq and Assistant Principal Miki Gromacki said the building’s classrooms can accommodate about 16 students with six-foot distancing, but class sizes average about 20, and there are some as large as 25. 

“We really can’t guarantee six feet if we’re moving forward with this,” Morris commented, A learning center for students with intensive needs is operating in the high school this year, adding to the space constraints.  

Sadiq said he also is concerned with how to safely conduct lunch for the high school students. “We’ll be outside as much as we can,” he said. 

Morris, who previously indicated that the district would need to conduct a fair amount of hiring to run both remote and in-person programs, indicated Friday that it is no longer a major concern. 

“We do not anticipate requiring to hire a significant number of staff (other than substitutes given the transition to in-person),” he stated. Employees that were furloughed will be returning, Morris added.