Mayor calls health crisis
Seeks help for parents struggling with remote learning
lNOmINsTNR » Mayor Dean Mazzarella declared an emergency health crisis Tuesday in an attempt to help parents struggling with remote learning to have a place where their children could go for supervision, safety and guidance.
“This gives me the ability to find space for the kids, let the state know this is a problem and maybe some financial help,” Mazzarella said about the declaration.
Mazzarella has continued to be vocal about his concerns with the issues some parents could be juggling with trying to help their children with remote learning and at the same time holding down a job to provide for their families since the School Committee voted 5-4 on July 30 for the full remote learning option.
Before the School Committee made the decision in July, the district surveyed parents about their preferences and found that 48% wanted the schools to fully reopen, 35% wanted the hybrid model that is a
mix of remote and in-person, and 17% wanted all remote learning.
Part of that survey included getting feedback from the district staff and found that 42% wanted the hybrid option, 30% wanted all remote and 28% wanted a full reopening of in-person learning.
Mazzarella said the city will survey parents again, but this time trying to determine how many parents have decided to continue with fully remote learning — when schools reopen either fully or with the hybrid — and how many are having a difficult time.
In addition, he said that using tracking data from the state Department of Public Health on the spread of COVID-19 the city is maintaining a low risk of seeing a jump in coronavirus infections and the School Committee should have used that information to revisit the three options in August.
“Our numbers are low and the weather’s been good so far. We could have at least been in the hybrid (option),” he said.
In the short term, Mazzarella said the city will be looking to perhaps use the
Boys & Girls Club of Fitchburg and Leominster as a site for a remote learning center.
Currently, he said, the club is providing that service for instructors at Monty Tech who have children in the district who are remote learning, adding that
as part of the declaration he will be looking at the utilization of public buildings and city funding.
Mazzarella stressed that the declaration has nothing to with the district’s teachers.
“We all know they are trying hard, but some kids
just can’t learn (remotely),” he said.
He is also hoping the school district will buy into the remote learning center idea.
“We are certainly hoping the School Department wants to work with us,” he said.