Baker Touts Successful School Return Despite Some Delaying Class

Nearly 20 school districts delayed their return from winter break due to health concerns and staffing shortages amid an unprecedented spike in COVID-19 fueled by the highly contagious omicron variant.

Districts were announcing the cancelation of classes as late as about 9:30 p.m. Sunday. Students in Brookline, Burlington, Lawrence and Ipswich were among those having their first day back to school pushed back to Tuesday, while more than a dozen other districts delayed the start of class Monday.

The vast majority of schools started on time Monday, the first time in more than 10 days students got back in the classroom.

"There was all kind of talk about how school wouldn't open Massachusetts today," Gov. Charlie Baker at a morning press conference in Salem. "School did."

The state had been pressed by its largest teachers union to delay the return to school to allow educators time to test following a holiday break that saw the state break record after record of single-day confirmed COVID-19 cases, punctuated by more than 20,000 on Friday.

The state maintained its position that school would not be canceled, citing the ineffectiveness and potential damage of online learning. (Baker and Salem Mayor Kim Drisoll Monday likened online learning to "playing basketball under water.")

Instead, Massachusetts made about 6 million KN-95 masks and 200,000 rapid tests available at to districts to hand out to staff before returning to school — a logistical issue for many.

It wasn't enough to save school everywhere. Staffing shortages, whether from in-class or transportation providers, caused districts to delay returning from winter break.

"At this time, we simply do not have the staffing capacity to operate all schools safely," Brookline Public Schools said in a letter to families late Sunday night. "While we understand that closing schools on Monday will be challenging for families, we believe this is in the best interest for our staff, students, and families and will allow us to return as safely and as strongly as possible."

Baker said Monday he was encouraged that most cities and towns haven't used all their COVID money, meaning they have resources available to bolster staffing.

A return to school was made more complicated for some by a lack of accessible testing in Massachusetts. Many have had trouble getting ahold of rapid antigen at-home tests, while people have had to wait in line for hours for the more reliable PCR testing. Most of the state's testing sites haven't been open since Wednesday due to the new year.

The state has remained adamant about keeping students in class this year, saying remote school will not count toward the required 180 days of learning districts must provide.

"The vast majority of the schools districts and schools in Massachusetts are opening today," Baker said, "which i think is incredibly important."

Some districts are plowing ahead. Boston Public Schools Superintendent Brenda Cassellius said more than 150 teachers called out sick over the weekend, with potentially more testing positive before returning to school.

If I have to go out and teach in the classroom, I'm going to do that," Cassellius said, according to NBC Boston. "But our goal is to keep classes going and keeps students in-person."