Worcester Schools Waiver For Full Return Delayed

WORCESTER, MA — A waiver requested by Worcester Public Schools to avoid returning all elementary and middle school students to buildings full-time in April is on hold for now, according to state officials.

Superintendent Maureen Binienda this month asked the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) for a waiver to delay the full-time return until May 3, mostly due to a lack of space. Binienda told the state there isn't enough room for Worcester students to remain either 3 or 6 feet apart in school buildings.

DESE received 74 waiver requests from districts across the state to delay the April 5 deadline for elementary students and April 28 for middle schoolers. The state approved 58 of those requests, and 10 requests — including Worcester's — are still under review.

"Bringing all our kids back to school is crucial for their educational progress and emotional and social well-being, and we will continue to work with districts to bring students back ahead of their waiver-approved return dates," DESE Commissioner Jeffrey Riley said in a statement Tuesday.

Worcester is planning to return about half the district's 24,000 students in a hybrid learning model by March 29. Almost the entire district has been in a remote model since the pandemic began one year ago.

DESE did not immediately have details on when Worcester's waiver request would be either granted or denied.