CHELMSFORD — The first day of classes for the 2020-2021 school year will be Sept. 16, according to the calendar approved by the School Committee Tuesday night.
The decision on when to officially begin the school year has been delayed due to ongoing negotiations with staff unions, including the number of professional development days teachers need prior to the start of classes. A calendar with a Sept. 2 start date had previously been approved, but the start date had to be shifted due to necessary preparation in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
Superintendent Jay Lang said the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has granted school districts up to an additional 10 days of professional development, training and other preparation before the new school year begins, with the requirement that instruction begins no later than Sept. 16. Because school officials and the teachers’ union have not yet come to an agreement, he said, the start date was set on the deadline day.
The School Committee’s agenda included an item to ratify the reopening of school memorandum of understanding with the Chelmsford Federation of Teachers, but it was skipped over because it has not been settled.
With Sept. 16 falling on a Wednesday, all students will attend remotely on the first day of school. The hybrid model previously approved by the School Committee splits students up into two cohorts that will each attend school in person part of the day on Monday and Tuesday or Thursday and Friday, with everyone attending remotely on Wednesdays to allow for deep cleaning between the groups.
At the elementary and middle school levels, the model prioritizes core academic classes being attended in person, with specials such as art and music taught remotely in the afternoon. The high school will maintain its rotating schedule.
Lang said he has received messages from parents wondering if arts were being cut due to budget reductions.
“That’s the farthest thing from the truth,” he said. “We have not even entertained that or discussed that.”
The schedule is set the way it is for practical purposes and maintaining distancing guidelines, Lang said, including keeping the cohorts of students separate. If they were to intermingle in something like art or band, it would defeat the purpose of the cohorts and make the model less effective, he said.
Lang said he put out a reopening survey to families a couple weeks ago, and the results were generally in line with data received on the previous nonbinding surveys. Of the more than 4,700 responses, 68% said they preferred their children to start the year attending under the hybrid model, and 32% said they preferred to start remotely.
He said they are still trying to track down a little over 100 students that have not selected a preferred mode of attendance. If they do not hear from these families soon, Lang said they will by likely be assigned to remote learning. He said families will have the option of switching from remote to hybrid and vice versa after the first quarter, provided there is sufficient space for those attending in person.
As of Tuesday, Lang said 55 students, including about 20 incoming kindergarten students, have opted out of the school system entirely in favor of enrollment in private or parochial schools or homeschooling.
Lang said special subject teachers will be asked to assist in co-teaching other classes in the earlier part of the day, either with smaller group instruction or to help keep students learning remotely engaged. While the needs of special education students will be determined on a case by case basis, their specialists will likely go into classrooms to support them rather than pulling students out, he said. Any special education services that need to be delivered remotely will be done on days the students are already learning remotely so as to not take away face time with teachers in the classroom, Lang said.
Committee member Donna Newcomb said the district has outstanding specialists and arts programs, and she wouldn’t want to see them “dismantled or neglected” because of this model. For some kids, specials like band, chorus, art and physical education are what help keep them engaged, and having them during the school day may help them release anxiety and improve social-emotional learning, she said. Newcomb said she hopes pushing these classes and activities to the end of the day is just a temporary measure before the schools can return to a more normal schedule.
Lang said the schedule will be a work in progress and tweaks may be made as needed. In terms of extracurricular activities, he said they can begin looking at what can be done remotely to start. He said there still isn’t definitive guidance on what will happen with school sports.
Student transportation remains another uncertain piece of the puzzle.
Director of Business & Finance Joanna Johnson-Collins said this year the district will only be transporting students about 1,110 students — about a third of its normal capacity. She said that as of Aug. 28 there were 754 registered bus riders, and several families that are eligible to ride have not registered yet.
This year the district is restricting bus eligibility to students in grades K-6 who live more than 2 miles away from their schools, students in grades K-6 who live under 2 miles away and are eligible for free and reduced lunch, and siblings of grades 5-6 students who are at the same middle school and in grades 7-8 because they can share a seat, Johnson-Collins said.
She said the decision was made after bus registration began in June, and several families with students in grades 7-12 had already registered and paid bus fees. Johnson-Collins said that on Friday, over 700 checks, totaling about $160,000, were returned to those families with students deemed ineligible to ride this year.
Chelmsford is under contract for 29 buses this school year. School Committee member Maria Santos said she did not understand why 10 buses were being reserved at the moment, especially when transportation is so important to the hybrid model.
Lang said busing is a “moving target” this year and there is uncertainty about how the initial routes for the cohorts will run in the first couple weeks. He said if some runs take too long to get to school or if some elementary runs end up backing up against the middle school runs or other traffic, they may have to split up routes. Lang said there may be opportunities to open up busing to more students once this is determined.
Also during the meeting, district Coordinator of Nursing Services and town Public Health Director Sue Rosa provided a review of health and safety protocols and procedures.
Gump said 6-foot distancing will be in place in the schools and masks will be required for all students, with exceptions for those with medical challenges. At least two mask breaks will be built into the school day, she said.
Hand hygiene will also be a focus, including appropriate times for hand washing and sanitizing, Gump said. She said touch-less hand sanitizer dispensers will be placed in high traffic areas at all schools, and mobile hand washing stations will be installed in strategic areas in the elementary and middle schools, she said.
There will also be separate rooms designated for regular first aid issues and medication management, and one for students exhibiting symptoms of sickness.
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