Middlesex League Says State Education Plan Lacks Guidance

MASSACHUSETTS — The 12 superintendents of school districts that make up the Middlesex League are urging state education officials to create a plan that provides additional guidance for in-person learning.

In a letter to Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Jeffrey Riley, administrators wrote that bringing elementary students back by April "without a thoughtful plan only exacerbates the challenges we face in schools."

The Middlesex League includes Stoneham, Belmont, Reading, Wilmington, Watertown, Winchester, Lexington, Woburn, Wakefield, Arlington, Melrose and Burlington. The superintendents said their districts and others across the state have been left to create their own reopening plans without a uniform plan from DESE.

"During the pandemic, school districts have been left to their own devices," the letter stated. "In the absence of concrete plans from the state, we became increasingly reliant on one another. In a nutshell, school leaders were told by the state to cover only essential standards, reduce the maximum bus capacity to approximately 30 percent, 'pressure test' desks at three feet, and develop three teaching and learning models: full return, hybrid, and remote learning—all of which we have done."

Riley's plan to accelerate the return to in-person learning is expected to be released sometime this month. He will ask the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to give him the authority to determine when hybrid and remote learning models no longer count for learning hours.

Riley's initial goal is to bring all elementary students back by April 5.

Middlesex League leaders urge Riley to address questions such as the appropriate distance for lunch and other unmasked activities – 3 feet versus 6 feet – the possible disruption of special education services, potential issues with existing memorandums of agreement with teachers and other collective bargaining units and disparate recommendations between local health boards, state agencies, the CDC and the World Health Organization.

Administrators are concerned about prioritizing teachers for vaccination. They said they were optimistic about the approval of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to add to the supply of doses, and CVS announced Tuesday educators will be eligible for vaccination at its pharmacies. Gov. Charlie Baker has also said teachers could start getting vaccinated by mid-month depending on the number of doses available.

"Since March of last year, we have worked tirelessly and collaboratively with all stakeholders in our respective communities, and we will continue to do so in the future," the superintendents wrote. "As educational leaders, we know the pandemic hasn’t been easy on anyone. We look forward to partnering with you to offer the highest quality education to our students."