CHICOPEE – The Chicopee School Committee met on Feb. 17 to discuss returning to school, air quality within schools and the Fall II sports season.

According to Superintendent Lynn Clark, 2,800 students will be returning to schools on Feb. 22. This will begin the cohort hybrid plan the School Committee discussed at the previous meeting.

“We look forward to inviting our students back,” said Clark.

With students and teachers returning to the classroom, many School Committee and community members are concerned about air quality within schools. Scott Chapdelaine, director of maintenance, provided an update on what measures have been taken to improve the air quality and keep everyone safe.

Chapdelaine said that all air equipment in schools has been checked, including exhaust fans and unit ventilators. All units have been cleaned, with filters changed and upgraded in some cases. He said that all units have also been adjusted for outside air dampers to bring in maximum fresh air. HVAC system improvements have been analyzed by an outside contractor and air quality testing has also been conducted by an outside contractor. There are new HEPA air purifiers installed in every classroom, said Chapdelaine.

“I definitely want to make it clear tonight: I’m very proud of the custodians and craftsmen that have worked tirelessly throughout this entire pandemic, keeping our buildings clean, safe and with zero transmissions in our schools,” he said.

Chapdelaine also proposed the idea of reinstating an Indoor Air Quality Committee in order to ensure proper communication between schools, maintenance and the School Committee. This committee would also help make sure everything continues to run properly. Members of the School Committee were in favor of this idea.

Fall II athletics were next on the discussion agenda. Sports included in Fall II are football, winter track, unified basketball and cheer. Director of Athletics Sean Mackin gave a presentation on how to ensure Fall II sports can proceed and remain safe.

According to Mackin, sports coaches will remain “COVID coaches” first and foremost. He said that the Athletic Department will be in constant contact with the Department of Health and sports teams will have to adhere to safety guidelines. Players of all sports must wear masks, limit 10 in a locker room at once, limit personnel on field, cut out half-time and limit the amount of players within a game.

Spectators will be allowed for outside sports with four people per team member. Indoor sports will not allow spectators, but the games will be televised on public television. According to Alvin Morton, assistant superintendent, basketball is the only Fall II sport that will take place inside with all other games occurring outside.

“We can always pull back and drop out if there are any safety concerns, but we can’t reinstitute football, winter track, unified basketball or cheer later as the other teams must have a schedule moving forward,” said Mackin.

Many members of the School Committee voiced their support for beginning the Fall II sports season.

“The CDC is saying to send these students back and there are guidelines in place where I truly believe if we’re sending students back they should have the right to play the sport they want,” said School Committee Member James Tanhauser.

School Committee Member Mary-Elizabeth Pniak-Costello spoke on how allowing sports could help the social and emotional health of students who have struggled during the past year.

“I do believe getting students back into sports will help with the social and emotional situation that many students feel that they’re in at this time. The CDC has indicated at this time that the social and emotional health of our students is very important, going back to school is important, as well as playing sports is important. So I am supporting going back and playing sports,” she said.

Committee Member David Barsalou emphasized the importance of giving kids as much normalcy as possible.

“It’s just really important that we get these kids back to some semblance of normalcy in their lives. I know it’s not a perfect world, but we have to make every effort to start the healing and get this thing going. To deprive these kids, especially seniors, of the opportunity to play sports I just feel is a really bad thing. I’m going to vote in the affirmative,” he said.

Each sport was voted on individually by the committee. There were 11 yes votes and one no vote for football. Donald Lamothe was the only School Committee member who voted on not allowing football. His concerns consisted of the sport not allowing for social distancing or safety during play and tackles.

Winter track, unified basketball and cheer were all unanimously approved. Fall II sports are now set to begin practices on March 1.

With students and staff returning to schools, the meeting also touched on vaccines and COVID-19 testing. Pniak-Costello voiced her concern on teachers not getting vaccinated before returning to school.

“Right now, there is no priority in regards to getting the teaching staff and the staff in general the priority for the vaccines,” she said.

Clark agreed with this concern. According to Clark, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) has told superintendents that any teachers who are veterans can be allowed higher priority for vaccines. Veteran teachers can give their names to Clark who will then forward them to DESE, though it is unclear when they would actually be vaccinated.

Clark also noted that Chicopee Public Schools and the Chicopee Education Association (CEA) signed on to a letter with other districts asking Gov. Charlie Baker to prioritize teachers when it comes to vaccines.

The Chicopee Public Schools system also hopes to implement two different types of COVID-19 testing. Diagnostic testing will be for individuals who have symptoms of the virus or have been in close contact with someone who tested positive. Pool or surveillance testing will be a way of catching positive tests within asymptomatic individuals.

Clark said that Chicopee has filled out an application to do pool testing within schools. Pool testing would be done on a consent basis only. Parents do not have to opt in to have their children tested this way and staff do not have to consent either.

Pool testing would be done through a third party that would test directly within the school buildings. If tests came back positive, diagnostic testing would then be done. Clark said that if DESE approves Chicopee Public School’s request to participate in pool testing, it would be used as level one and diagnostic testing would be used as level two. Clark said they will be having a meeting with DESE to further discuss pool testing, what population to test most, how frequently this testing should be done and more.

Those interested in viewing the entirety of the School Committee meeting are encouraged to visit ChicopeeTV’s Facebook page.