Shrewsbury Teachers Voice Opposition To District's Hybrid Plan

SHREWSBURY, MA — Shrewsbury Public Schools are planning on a hybrid model for the reopening of school, but not all the district's teachers are on board. At Wednesday's School Committee meeting, a Shrewsbury High School teacher voiced his concern about the hybrid model on behalf of 117 educators and community members in town who felt the same way.

Tim Scheer, a social sciences teacher at Shrewsbury High School, voiced his concern during the public participation part of the meeting. Scheer spoke on behalf of the educators and community members who signed a letter, submitted to the Committee, that opposed the hybrid model.

While acknowledging the difficult task the Committee has in deciding the reopening plans, Scheer urged the School Committee to reconsider a fully remote start to the year with a phased approach to a hybrid model. He said the current hybrid plan, at worst, has the potential to be a "catalyst for a public health disaster within our community." At best, Scheer said it was "too incomplete to move forward."

Shrewsbury Public Schools' reopening plan reduces the number of students in school at one time by having students attend on a part-time, alternating schedule and will use a six-foot physical distancing standard with masks required for all students and staff. The first day of work for SPS staff will still be August 31, and the first day of school for students will be September 15.

Scheer said the reopening should be based on global public health metrics and that the district should look at other schools around the world and see how they facilitated a reopening. He also highlighted that the plans mention of the district's ventilation system was "vague" and relied on filtration systems meant for larger particles of concrete.

The way the virus is spread by children was another concern as well as teachers from other communities with possibly higher infection rates coming into the schools.

"We believe that this is a recipe for an outbreak which seriously jeopardizes the health of our staff and students in a way that many of us could never have imagined," the letter reads.

Among the suggestions in the letter, Scheer and those signed ask for a community forum to get input from the town at-large on the reopening plan. The district has a reopening task force made up of teachers and district staff.

Read the full letter below: