Newton Elementary Students Will Likely Return In Person By April

NEWTON, MA — Newton Public Schools will most likely to return elementary school students to in-person instruction by April 5, with middle and high school students to follow, after the state board voted a proposal that would effectively force districts across the state to do so.

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education board Friday voted to give Commissioner Jeff Riley the authority to determine when to end hybrid and remote models for school districts.

"It means that Newton, like almost all other districts is going to have hybrid learning phased out for the current school year, first elementary then middle and high school, and it also means that any parent —including a parent in DLA who wants their child to begin in person full time — must be allowed to do that, there is not going to be an ability of the district to restrict students from moving into in person," DESE board member Matt Hills of Newton said in a phone interview after the meeting.

DESE and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have recommended keeping students and teachers 3 feet to 6 feet from one another when masked. Riley and a panel of doctors presenting to the board Friday said there hasn't been evidence to suggest the distance has made a difference in COVID-19 virus exposure, when other mitigation efforts - such as masks - are in place.

Read more: MA Ed Chief Gets Power To Force School Districts Back To School

"The doctors who spoke today as well as the DESE guidance makes crystal clear that 3 feet with other mitigation factors in place is sufficient," Hills said.

The plan will be phased-in, beginning with elementary school students on April 5, before moving middle and high school students.

Districts can apply for a waiver, if they can make a compelling case that they need to take a more incremental approach, according to Riley.

Although any district can apply for such a waiver, Hills, who is a former school committee chair, said that was more for urban districts.

"We want to get as many students back full time as possible I am sure NPS will join me in encouraging as many students as possible to start full time in person," he said.

Parents and guardians will be given a survey in the next week to see what they think is best for their child for the remainder of the school year.

Riley said a detailed guidance and support teams and staffing support would be ready next week to help districts.

"Newton has been planning for a return to full in person for elementary students for a while and began planning for middle school this past week," said Newton School Committee chair Ruth Goldman. "What we don't know is how many students will want to return full in person and have been surveying families since Tuesday, so we can better understand how to plan."

Goldman said lunch and spacing are the biggest issues that the district will have to work out, as well as understanding the numbers of students who will want to be in the buildings full time.

The vote came Friday after the board heard from parents, teachers and a panel of physicians. Doctors told the board repeatedly that transmission rates in schools were extremely low and a combination of masking and other mitigation efforts at schools left them confident in a return to school.

Teachers unions across the state have pushed back about full return to in-person learning until the vaccine is rolled out.

But the move comes as nearly half of the state's schools have made pooled testing available for students and staff and the vaccine rollout is set to begin next week for teachers. Many districts are already beginning to bring more students back from the North Shore to Brookline, especially at the elementary level.

"I know there are issues, I know they’re complicated, and I know they will involve some difficult trade-offs. But bringing students back full-time in person safely is the highest priority,” Hills said. "It just must get done.”

Jenna Fisher is a news reporter for Patch. Got a tip? She can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna). Have a something you'd like posted on the Patch? Here's how.