Hub schools want in-person delay
Superintendent says district needs more time
Boston Public Schools on Monday requested a waiver to delay the resumption of full-time, in-person classes, one of 74 Massachusetts districts to do so, according to the state department of education.
BPS requested a waiver to begin implementing five days of in-person learning for students in kindergarten through eighth grade until April 27.
Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration had set out a timeline earlier this month calling for the full-time return to classrooms for elementary school students by April 5, and for middle school students by April 28.
Boston makes one of 74 waiver requests sent to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, 58 of which have been approved, 6 were denied and 10 are still under review, according to a department spokeswoman.
Other large school districts that have requested some form of a delay from the state include Brockton, Worcester, Chelsea, Somerville and Springfield.
DESE Commissioner Jeffrey Riley said in a statement, “We are pleased that 90 percent of districts will have their elementary schools back fully in-person by April 5. … Of the districts granted waivers, nearly half are due to the inclusion of fifth grade in the district’s middle school and the rest are planning to be in person within weeks.”
In the waiver request sent to Riley, BPS Superintendent Brenda Cassellius wrote that the delay, “will allow the district time to implement thorough operabacking tional preparation, communicate updates with families in a timely manner, and ensure most of our educators and staff have received vaccination for COVID19.”
The BPS waiver request is still under review and an answer from DESE is expected in the coming days, according to Cassellius.
Boston Teachers Union is the delay, with President Jessica Tang saying the original April 5 date is “rushed and arbitrary.”
Tang said in a statement, “It is evident that the state’s vaccine rollout has been mediocre at best, and our school districts have not been given the proper tools they need to reopen safely.”
Boston City Councilor At-Large Annissa EssaibiGeorge, chair of the education committee, said during a Tuesday hearing, “I am hopeful that DESE will grant the district’s waiver … although I’m hopeful there might be opportunities to return some of our younger schools to full-time, in-person sooner.”
But some BPS families have opposed a waiver request before it was even submitted. Voices for BPS Families, a new parent group, published an online petition earlier this month asking that Riley reject any waiver requests submitted by the district.
The petition, which has gotten more than 800 signatures, states, “Granting a waiver to BPS, the state’s largest urban school district, would constitute another significant failure of care to Boston’s children.”