State Will Only Count 4 Curley School Remote Days; Union Opposed

BOSTON, MA — The Massachusetts education commissioner will only count four of the Curley K-8 School's seven remote learning days toward the 180-day school year requirement, a decision the Boston Teachers Union called "bizarre."

Curley K-8 School closed to in-person learning on Wednesday, Nov. 10 in response to a COVID-19 outbreak. It's set to reopen on Monday, Nov. 22, and teachers are conducting remote learning in the meantime.

In a letter to school officials, Commissioner Jeffrey Riley said Curley could count its remote learning days on Wednesday and Friday of last week and Monday and Tuesday of this week toward its 180-day obligation — but the school can't count the remaining three remote days, The Boston Globe reported.

"Maximizing safe in-person learning remains a top priority for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education this school year," Riley wrote in his letter, as reported by the Globe. "I am particularly concerned that remote learning will not fully meet the academic and social emotional needs of our students, especially students with disabilities, English learners, and other vulnerable students."

The Boston Teachers Union criticized Riley's decision in a statement written by BTU Executive Vice President Erik Berg.

In the statement, Berg said state officials are "playing politics around school schedules" and "gambling with the health of students and their families."

"The idea that the state is not going to give students credit for learning days that are remote under these circumstances strikes most parents and educators as bizarre," the statement reads.

Berg also said teachers want to be teaching in their classrooms every day, and argued the state should focus on improving its COVID-19 testing system to allow for in-person learning.

"Amidst this kind of public health crisis, state bureaucrats should be listening to local families, and not threatening them," Berg said in the statement, "especially when the state itself is still cutting corners on safety measures and has failed to make the necessary robust investments in testing capacity."