West Springfield School Committee votes to return to school remotely

Aug. 18, 2020 | Sarah Heinonen
sarah@thereminder.com

WEST SPRINGFIELD – On Aug. 10, the West Springfield School Committee voted unanimously to adopt a “phased-in” plan for resuming school in the fall. The plan will begin as remote learning and allow for several reassessment points throughout the school year.

Superintendent Tim Connor gave his recommendation for a phased-in approach, which would see students return to school remotely from Sept. 16 through Nov. 2. The safety and logistics of switching to a hybrid model will be reassessed on Oct. 26. Whether the district decides to stay remote for the period between Nov. 2 and Dec. 22 or go to a hybrid model, the safety will be reassessed again on Dec 28. There will be two additional reassessment dates on Feb. 15 and April 19. At any reassessment point, the model used may pivot to hybrid or back to remote as needed.

Remote teaching with West Springfield teachers still has to be ironed out with the teachers’ union, the West Springfield Education Association (WSEA), Connor said, and acknowledged that parents are not interested in using a third-party platform.

“The goal is always to return students to the classroom. There’s no one who can and will argue about that. Best model. That is the model we want, but we want to make sure that we’re doing it safely,” Connor said. Connor emphasized that the WSEA did not influence his recommendation, but instead cited information such as schools in the southern United States that reopened and are already closed again due to spikes in cases of COVID-19.

Director of Public Health Jeanne Galloway gave a presentation covering the town’s data on COVID-19. The case count week-over-week has been increasing.

She said based on the incidents of COVID-19-like symptoms in the limited summer school population, “it can be extrapolated for fall to a significant amount of time needed to assess, manage and follow up on everyone with symptoms.”

Galloway said metrics to decide whether to return to school in-person should include the district’s supply of personal protective equipment, the time to train staff properly and guidance from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), which is still under development.

Christine Beaumont, director of health for West Springfield Public Schools, explained that any student exhibiting COVID-19-like symptoms would be isolated and sent home. A negative test would be required before that student could return to school.

If the student tests positive for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, contact tracing would be done by the BOH to identify individuals with whom the student had close contact, including siblings, classmates and teachers. Those people would have to be quarantined until tested. Galloway noted the availability of COVID-19 testing for the public is limited to the CVS on Riverdale Street and the American Family Care (AFC) urgent care clinic on Union Street.

Connor later noted that in September 2019, roughly 2,000 students visited school nurses throughout the district for COVID-19-like symptoms. Under the procedures put in place by DESE, each of those students would have to be placed in an isolation room and sent home for testing.

The isolation rooms are an area near the exit of a school that is dedicated to that purpose and is staffed by a nurse’s aide or substitute school nurse.

School Committee Member Colleen Marcus asked what would happen if multiple students were exhibiting symptoms at the same time. Beaumont explained that more than one student could use the isolation room, provided they are spaced 6 feet apart and wearing masks.

School Committee Member Pat Garbacik asked about the district’s supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) and sanitization needs. Beaumont explained that the district has enough pediatric sized face masks. There are transparent masks on order for English language learners and special education classrooms. Currently, she said, there are not enough KN95 masks for staff, nor are there enough gloves, disposable gowns or disposable face shields.

School Committee Member William Garvey called the guidance from DESE on PPE levels “laughably inadequate.”

Committee Member Jennifer Marcus asked if teachers who felt uncomfortable could wear additional PPE. Beaumont said that they could bring their own, but the district might not be able to supply them.

Mayor Will Reichelt relayed that there are enough chemicals and cleaning products for a hybrid opening, except for cleaning wipes, which the district has ordered.

Garvey said that while the cleaning supplies may be in stock, the district did not have enough staff to clean rooms between classes. He went on to ask if the rate of air exchange in the classrooms is sufficient. No one was able to answer the question.

Garvey also asked about co-mingling of students from different communities through the Career Technical Education Center (CTEC), the Lower Pioneer Valley Educational Collaborative (LPVEC)’s vocational program.

“I think that does pose a problem,” said Galloway. “If one case is in one town and [students] happen to go there, too, then you’ve just kind of spread it all over.”

Chair of the West Springfield Board of Health (BOH) Dr. Heather Sankey said it is “very possible to [reopen] safely, but it is not easy, and it requires small classrooms and everyone following the guidelines.” She referred to several cases at Baystate Health that occurred when people let down their guard in what they thought was a safe area. “I think I think that’s the challenge. Can you follow all these precautions? Can you enforce them?”

Dr. Nate Summers, a child psychologist who is also on the BOH, added that he believes kids will be able to adhere to the guidelines for the first few weeks but thinks that the vigilance will break down.

At the end of the meeting, each of the school committee members spoke in favor of adopting the phased-in plan. Garvey said, “I would rather be responsible for a loss of learning than a loss of life.”

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