Large Weekend Party Puts Milton School Officials On High Alert

MILTON, MA — Milton school officials are being forced to contemplate how district students are taught after reports of a large gathering of students Friday night near Presidents Golf Course reached school officials.

According to a letter sent to district parents on Sunday, between 50 and 100 students attended a party near the Milton-Quincy line less than two weeks after Milton schools opened up for the school year offering an every-other-day hybrid learning model.

"To hear that parents and guardians were dropping their children off to go up to this place to party or to, you know, convene in large gatherings is very disappointing," Interim Superintendent James Jette told WCVB on Saturday.

The letter, which was sent from Jette and Milton High School Principal Karen Cahill, the district has not been able to confirm the identities of students who were at the party. But district officials believe the gathering did not adhere to proper social distancing guidelines and other health stipulations geared at limiting the spread of the coronavirus.

"We as a district do not condone this type of behavior, and it goes against everything we have been asking the community to do to help ensure that our schools stay open in a hybrid model during this global pandemic," the letter stated.

"Now more than ever, in our continuous efforts to educate our students and make sure they are safe, we strongly encourage you to have a conversation with your student to let him/her know that this risky behavior is not acceptable and could have serious implications on the community as a whole."

Earlier this month, large student gatherings in Dedham and Sudbury forced school officials in those communities to change reopening plans. In Dedham, parties held between Aug. 29 and 31 comprised mostly of high school and young adults delayed in-person instruction after 16 of the 29 high school students at the party tested positive for the coronavirus, according to local health officials.

Nine other young adults tested positive as well.

Jette told WCVB the parties in Dedham and Sudbury put school officials in Milton on alert and said that officials hoped to get "ahead of the curve" with possible parties. He is now hoping that students who were at Friday's party will be tested, but said it is is frustrating to see the trend continue in Milton.

"It's very disappointing because this jeopardizes our opportunity to remain in hybrid and ultimately — trying to be optimistic —move to full, in-person learning," Jette said.

In Sudbury, school officials were forced to delay in-person learning at Lincoln-Sudbury High School until this week after police broke up a party that involved alcohol and a “complete lack of safety precautions to protect against the spread of COVID,” Lincoln-Sudbury Superintendent Bella Wong said in a statement .

Jette told WCVB that he plans to address the situation with the Board of Education as well as with local health officials to determine whether adjustments need to be made to the district’s plans for in-person instruction. In a joint statement with the Milton School Committee, Jette asked district students and parents to be proactive in not adding to the spread of the virus.

"Although there is no definitive evidence that the gathering was initiated by Milton High School students or how many of them were actually in attendance, we are asking all parents, guardians and teens in Milton and our bordering communities to take this pandemic seriously," the statement issued on Sunday read.