Peabody Schools Hope To Return All Students 5 Days By March 29

PEABODY, MA — Peabody Public Schools could have all students who want to be in classroom learning back in school five days a week by the end of March under a plan to bring younger students back within three weeks and older students by March 29.

The Peabody School Committee approved the plan that Superintendent of Schools Josh Vadala said will consist of requiring at least 6 feet of physical distancing between staff and students, and 3 feet of distancing between students, along with enhanced masking and cleaning measures.

Vadala told Patch on Wednesday the plan is not yet finalized and requires continued work with the teachers' union, families, students and public health officials to implement in a timely fashion.

"Public health experts, including the Peabody Public Health Department, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Massachusetts chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the state Department of Public Health, have all been clear that returning to in-person learning is safe," Vadala said. "We will work with our teachers to ensure those standards are met and that we are doing everything we can as a district to keep students and staff safe and healthy."

Vadala said Department of Element and Secondary Education Commissioner Jeffrey Riley's directive on Tuesday that at least all elementary students across the state must be back in the classroom five days per week by April "served as an affirmation of our goal to restore in-person learning.

Peabody Public Schools have been in a hybrid-learning format since the start of the school year on Sept. 16.

"Progressing to full-time in-person learning is the natural next phase of that effort," he said.

Families of students who wish to keep their students in remote learning through the end of the school year will have that option.

"Our next step is to survey parents and staff to better understand their preferences moving forward with respect to in-person or remote-learning models, and pair that with our existing understanding that parents have been clear about how they value in-person learning," Vadala said. "We are also cognizant of the importance of protecting the health of our staff and students, which has been our paramount concern over the last year and will remain so going forward."

Vadala allowed there are logistics that still need to be worked out with the teachers' union, but praised the educational staff's effort and professionalism over the past year of the coronavirus pandemic.

"Peabody's teachers have done an amazing job supporting their students within our hybrid model and our goal has consistently been the safe return of as many students as possible to in-person school settings so we can maximize learning and address our students' holistic needs," Vadala said. "There's no way to fully quantify the immense positive impact being in school has on students' mental health and learning ability. Additionally, in-person learning will more fully enable the district to deliver critical wraparound services that benefit students in need."

Did you find this article useful? Invite a friend to subscribe to Patch.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)

More Patch Coverage: North Shore Districts React To Proposed State Classroom Mandate

Expanding Classroom Learning May Mean Easing Social Distancing

MA Education Chief Wants To Bring Students Back To Classroom ASAP