Updates from Commissioner Riley about In-Person Learning

 Dear North Reading Public Schools Community,

Today at a press conference Governor Baker, Education Secretary Peyser, and Commissioner Riley shared their thoughts about the next steps for the public schools in Massachusetts.

Commissioner Riley shared the following:

Looking ahead, with the extensive mitigation strategies in place and as state health metrics continue to improve, at some point districts and schools will need to shift away from remote and hybrid learning models and return to a traditional in-person educational format. At today’s meeting of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE), I indicated that in March, I will request that the Board grant me the authority to determine when hybrid and remote models no longer count for learning hours. This would be part of a broader plan, to be released in March, to begin returning more students to in-person learning this spring, assuming our state’s health metrics continue to improve.

If granted this authority, I will pursue a phased approach to returning students to the classroom, working closely with state health officials and medical experts. Ideally, my initial goal is to bring all elementary school students back to in-person learning five days a week this April. Parents will still have the option for their children to learn remotely through the end of the school year. There will also be a waiver process for districts who may need to take a more incremental approach (for instance, to first move to a robust hybrid model if they are currently fully remote).

In preparation for returning more students to school this spring, DESE recommends the following initial actions, with more information to follow in March:

• If districts and schools are currently open in an in-person or hybrid model, they should remain open and consult with DESE’s COVID-19 operations team before making any changes to in-person learning.

• Furthermore, if not already underway, districts and schools in fully remote models should plan for an in-person return for elementary students in either a robust hybrid or fully in-person model, regardless of community prevalence. 

• To support this planning and accommodate as many family preferences as possible, we encourage districts and schools to survey families about their interest in both hybrid and fully in-person models. Some families may prefer fully remote learning through the end of the school year. As such, districts and schools may be able to accommodate the remaining students interested in attending school fully in-person this spring, while maintaining physical distance between students.  

• We continue to encourage districts and schools to sign up for DESE’s pooled testing initiative.

As we look ahead to this potential phase in plan I wanted to update you on a few important details and provide an update on DESE’s recommended actions.

• We are have been in a hybrid model since September and due to the tremendous efforts of our teachers, staff, students, and families this model has been as successful as it could be given the challenges we have faced. We will continue to follow this hybrid model and schedule until further notice and following updates on the DESE plan.

• In recent weeks we have been working proactively with our administrators and district union leadership to ensure a smooth transition back to full in-person learning for whenever that comes to fruition. This has allowed us to begin thinking about some of the challenges that we will face and design solutions for the future.

• We will be designing and sending surveys home to families in the coming weeks that will allow us to gather more information about the number of students ready to return to full in-person and the number hoping to remain in full remote. This data will provide us with critical information to inform the design of our plans.

• We have enrolled in DESE’s pooled testing opportunity and we are prepared to begin that roll-out this week and into next week. Please be sure to complete the registration process that was sent to you via email and if you have any questions please check here to identify some common errors.

We thank you all for your continued support of our schools and the important part that each of you has played in making this year as successful as possible for our students. We will be discussing this topic more in the coming weeks and I will continue to communicate any relevant updates.

Thank you,

Dr. Daly