Mansfield Schools Survey Shows Support For In-Classroom Learning

MANSFIELD, MA — Preliminary results from the Mansfield Public Schools Fall 2020 Planning Survey show that 68.5 percent of parents plan to send their students to schools for in-classroom learning if it is offered this fall amid the coronavirus crisis.

Superintendent of Schools Teresa Murphy said in a letter to the school community that, with 3,100 responses to the survey recorded, more than two-thirds of the responses said they will send their children back to school buildings "with appropriate safety and social distancing measures in place."

Murphy said the results show 24.3 percent of parents are "still unsure" if they would send kids to school, while 7.2 percent of parents said they would not be willing to send their children to school during the health emergency.

"I had been reluctant to send home one of these surveys because if I were a parent I wouldn't be able to respond until I knew all of the details," Murphy said. "But the responses were helpful
to us."

Murphy said ChromeBooks have been distributed to all students in grades 3 through 12 to facilitate remote learning, if necessary.

"Not knowing fully what the future holds we need to be ready to teach and learn remotely at any time," she said.

The deadline for the latest survey was Wednesday, but Murphy said additional, more comprehensive surveys will go out over the next few weeks.

"Thank you for your continued involvement as we navigate the path to reopening our schools," Murphy said.

The state on Thursday released proposed transportation guidelines for students that include having one student per seat unless they are from the same household, keeping windows open except for in cases of extreme weather and reducing capacity to the extent that an 83-passenger bus will only be able to carry 27 passengers.

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