More Lunches, Early Dismissals Possible For In-Person Learning

READING, MA — The Reading Public Schools developed a plan last fall to return to in-person learning, but the district will face several challenges as it brings back students full-time, Superintendent John Doherty said.

The state board of Elementary and Secondary Education voted 8-3 Friday to give its commissioner the authority to decide when remote and hybrid models would no longer count for learning hours. Elementary schools are expected to be back in person by April 5, while no dates have been given yet for middle and high school.

Administrators in Reading are working with school principals to develop a process to successfully transition back to in-person on all levels.

Doherty said the district may need to go to four lunches per day in schools and implement an 11:30 a.m. early dismissal on Fridays. Seating distance in some classrooms may have to be changed from 6 feet to as low as 3 feet, which would alter quarantining procedures.

Some other challenges Reading faces are:

• Vaccine availability for staff so that they can receive their full doses as soon as possible
• Moving of furniture back into classrooms
• Maintaining lunch distancing with more students (it will still need to be six feet because students will be without masks)
  • It's possible RPS may need to go to 4 lunches each day in some schools.
• Scheduling
  • Elementary early dismissal will be kept on Friday. The district may need to go with an 11:30 a.m. dismissal for students on Fridays.
  • Specialists' schedules at elementary may look different.
• How to address the needs of fully remote students
• Maintaining current special education services in a full in person model
• Staffing (bringing back furloughed employees and looking at potential leaves of absences)
• Changing cleaning and disinfecting schedule
• Changing arrival and dismissal times and procedures
• Social Emotional Transition for Students back to in person school.

"All of us want our students back full time," Doherty said in a statement. "However, we need to do this as safely and thoughtfully as possible."

The Reading Public Schools will hold staff and community forums once the plan is in place.