Stoneham Schools Sticking With Hybrid Learning

STONEHAM, MA — The Stoneham Public Schools will not go fully remote after all. The district announced at Thursday's School Committee meeting that it will continue with a hybrid learning model.

Initially, SPS decided to implement remote learning for grades 1-12 after the state labeled Stoneham a "yellow" community on Wednesday. The average daily incidence rate of new COVID-19 cases in Stoneham over the past two weeks was 5.4 per 100,000 people, the district said.

The "yellow" designation is given to communities that average 4-8 cases per 100,000 people daily.

School officials said during Thursday's School Committee meeting that there was insufficient data to support the change, WCVB reported. The reversal came as Gov. Charlie Baker urged more districts to opt for hybrid or in-person learning.

Baker said during a Wednesday press conference that districts should make decisions based on weeks of data and not a single report.