Waltham Not Ready For Full, In-Person School: Superintendent

WALTHAM, MA — Waltham Public Schools will likely have to apply for a waiver after the state board voted to effectively force districts across the state to phase out hybrid learning in favor of full in-person learning by April 5, according to the superintendent.

"If all continues to go well, we will have all grade levels back in our hybrid model as of Monday, March 22," Superintendent Brian Reagan said an email. "The April 5 deadline discussed by Commissioner Riley is unreasonable for Waltham as it is for many other communities who are just now successfully bringing students back hybrid."

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education board Friday voted to give Commissioner Jeff Riley the authority to determine when to end hybrid and remote models for school districts.

DESE and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have recommended keeping students and teachers 3 feet to 6 feet from one another when masked. Riley and a panel of doctors presenting to the board Friday said there hasn't been evidence to suggest the distance has made a difference in COVID-19 virus exposure, when other mitigation efforts - such as masks - are in place.

"The doctors who spoke today as well as the DESE guidance makes crystal clear that 3 feet with other mitigation factors in place is sufficient," DESE board member Matt Hills said in a phone interview Friday.

Teachers unions across the state have pushed back against full return to in-person learning until the vaccine is rolled out. And a number of school districts have negotiated with local teachers unions to maintain a 6-foot distance between desks and people.

The DESE plan will be phased-in, requiring most elementary school students to return to full, five days a week of school for elementary school students by April 5, before moving to middle and high school students.

Districts can apply for a waiver, if they can make a "compelling case" that they need to take a more incremental approach, according to Riley. He has said that since the beginning of emergency rules to allow for online school, he's asked districts to plan for and prioritize in-person learning.

"I anticipate the need to file for a waiver and can only hope that the DESE recognizes our current position and allows us extra time to plan," Reagan said.

Reagan added that the district was still committed to keeping students 6 feet apart in classrooms, something the district negotiated with the teachers union in the fall.

"In order to eliminate the hybrid model and shift to a full return, we would need to abandon this commitment and place desks much closer," he said. "In many rooms, we are not even able to maintain a 3-foot distance. There are also a host of logistical issues that this new state expectation ignores including how schools will feed students when they are at full capacity since lunch and breakfast require students to be unmasked and space limitations make it impossible to maintain the 6-foot distance that is recommended when people are eating."

But the Department of Secondary and Elementary Education officials said details like having enough teachers or working out lunch schedules are up to individual districts to figure out.

"I know there are issues, I know they’re complicated, and I know they will involve some difficult trade-offs. But bringing students back full-time in person safely is the highest priority,” Hills said. "It just must get done.”

The DESE vote came Friday after the board heard from parents, teachers and a panel of physicians. Doctors told the board repeatedly that transmission rates in schools were extremely low and a combination of masking and other mitigation efforts at schools left them confident in a return to school — even with 3 foot distancing.

The move also comes as nearly half of the state's schools have made pooled testing available for students and staff and the vaccine rollout is set to begin next week for teachers. Many districts are already beginning to bring more students back from the North Shore to Brookline, especially at the elementary level.

But unlike Brookline, Waltham, has spent much of the pandemic as a community at high risk for spread of the virus, contributing to mostly remote classes in the district.

Parents and guardians will be given a survey in the next week to see what they think is best for their child for the remainder of the school year.

Riley said a detailed guidance and support teams and staffing support would be ready this week to help districts.

But Reagan said he was disappointed with the vote. He said his office planned to work with the union and school committee on a plan that works for Waltham.

"We have been looking for strong action from the state for a year," he said. "To take this step after individual districts have fully developed their plans and have been following their plans since September is another example of the disconnect that exists between DESE and superintendents. I want nothing more than to see our classrooms filled again, but adjusting regulations specifically to push districts to follow a mandate that doesn't consider the variables that exist from community to community is simply wrong."

Jenna Fisher is a news reporter for Patch. Got a tip? She can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna). Have a something you'd like posted on the Patch? Here's how.