Board shifts to hybrid model

LROMINSTRR » The School Committee voted unanimously Monday night to move the district from all-remote learning to a hybrid model that will have students in class two days a week.

“While we continue to support in-person learning we have to do whatever we can (to get students back in the classroom),” Superintendent Paula Deacon said at the Zoom meeting of the committee.

In July, the committee voted to have classes start using an all-remote learning model and to revisit the decision at its first meeting in October.

Last month it approved what was described as mini-hybrids for special education and English language learners and students attending the Center for Technical Excellence at the high school.

With the affirmative vote, students in grades first through fifth will begin classes Oct. 26 using the 2-1-2 model, which means students will have two days of inclass instruction (either Monday or Tuesday, or Thursday and Friday), two days of remote learning and one day of remote interaction with their teachers on Wednesdays.

For students in grades sixth through ninth, the 2-1-2 model will begin Nov. 9.

During a presentation, district administrators said there will be no more than 16 students per classroom to ensure at least 6 feet of social distancing at all times.

Students attending in person will also be required to wear masks, but will be given mask breaks and time for outdoor activities.

Moving to the hybrid model will also mean the hiring of 17 new teachers, new duty aides and custodians, district administrators said.

There is also the possibility that students currently in one teacher’s homeroom could be moved to another because of the reduction of class sizes, but at

tempts would be made to match students with their current teachers, administrators said.

After the administrators presented the hybrid option to the committee members, there were several comments and questions.

First, committee member Sue Koehler wanted parents and guardians to know that if they prefer to continue using the remote learning model, it will be available to all.

That prompted Deacon to stress there has been a survey sent to all district parents and guardians asking if they will or won’t continue remote learning.

“It is very important,” Deacon said, asking that the surveys be filled out by Friday so the district knows how many students to expect.

Deacon said if parents want their children to participate in the hybrid option, even if they initially opted for remote, that is possible, and vice versa.

“We’re in a flexible and fluid situation,” she said.

Committee member Michael Stassen, while saying he was cautious about the recent increase in virus cases statewide, said he supported the hybrid option.

However, he wanted to understand how the district would make a change if forced by a second wave of the infection.

Deacon said if the district has to go all remote again, “we know how to do it.”

Committee member Peter Haigis wanted to know if the Wi-Fi capacity at the schools has been improved in preparation for the different options. An administrator said the schools have had a tremendous increase in capacity and the Wi-Fi is better than it has been in the past.

Committee Chairwoman Eileen Griffin wanted parents and guardians to know that families with several children will attend school on the two days of in-person instruction on the same days — either Monday and Tuesday or Thursday and Friday.

Isabelle Alera wanted to be sure the schools would be ready to open on Oct. 26 and Nov. 9.

“We’ll have all hands on deck,” Deacon said.

Before the committee voted on the hybrid option, it added an amendment made by Mayor Dean Mazzarella to allow district administrators to make changes to the model if conditions arise that need to be addressed without a vote by the committee. It was approved. Schedules and bus routes will be developed once data from the survey is compiled, Deacon said.