Salem Schools Prepare For Fall Reopening, Wait For State Guidance

SALEM, MA — Officials in Salem and across Massachusetts are anxiously awaiting next week's guidance on how to plan for reopening schools in the fall.

Salem Interim Superintendent Kathleen Smith said the district is already in the planning process and has formed a reopening task force, including teachers, principals, school committee members, and parents. The group has been broken up into subcommittees to focus on various areas, including academics, social and e motional learning, special education, building-based operations, district-based operations, human resources, health and wellness and communication.

"These subcommittees will look at the guidelines from DESE and formulate a plan for what the return to school will look like," Smith said. "This includes class sizing, health and safety precautions, materials and supplies, disinfecting protocols, and all the underlying planning that needs to take place to accomplish the goal of engaging our students in a safe and healthy manner."

Last week, the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education issued preliminary guidance on school reopening plans. In addition to giving school districts a long list of supplies they will need to have on hand to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the memo included guidance suggesting dramatically reduced class sizes when schools reopen for in-person learning.

Through a spokesperson, Smith declined comment on the preliminary memo, saying the school system was waiting for the more comprehensive plan scheduled to be released next week.

The preliminary proposals have already been criticized, most notably by the Massachusetts Teachers Association, the state's largest teachers union. MTA President Merrie Najimy said the directive to have school districts purchase their own personal protective equipment was like "President Trump telling states they had to buy their own ventilators and testing supplies rather than using the centralized authority and purchasing power of the federal government to protect public health and safety by making vital equipment available."

Najimy said requiring individual school districts to purchase the equipment is a bigger burden on lower income school districts and expecting students to bring their own face coverings at school is "tone-deaf to families who do not have the means or the ability to live up to the expectation."

But the biggest burden may be the potential cap of 10 students per classroom, which DESE is already requiring for the summer programs. Many educators expect that ratio to be continued into the fall, even though most schools have typically had classes with 20 students or more.

"This will necessitate at least doubling the number of staff, even as public schools are on the verge of issuing large numbers of layoff notices, or pink slips, to educators," Najimy said. "None of this can be accomplished safely if school budgets are cut and staff are laid off, leading to larger classes and less ability to achieve physical distancing, perform deep cleaning, and implement the other health and safety measures required."