Longmeadow School Committee gives update on COVID-19 and lunchtime loneliness

Oct. 7, 2021 | Carolyn Noel

LONGMEADOW - The Longmeadow School Committee met on Sept. 28 to offer an update on COVID-19 cases within the community and to address how they are handling both student quarantines and lunchtime loneliness.

According to Superintendent M Martin O'Shea, as of Sept. 27 the Town of Longmeadow had 14 active COVID-19 cases. He said that the number of cases has recently dropped off in schools, which he attributes to administration, nurses and parents keeping sick children home.

"We're encouraged to see that the number of students quarantining and the number of active cases has dropped off in the last several days. I really attribute that to the speedy work that the administrators and our nurses do," said O'Shea. "When we act quickly, we're able to isolate active cases and keep children at home who are close contacts. So this is encouraging."

O'Shea also said that Longmeadow has secured MedSource as their partner for the Diagnostic Testing Program. If all goes according to plan, the projected start date for testing is Oct. 12.

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education recently announced an extension of their public school mask mandate. Masks are now required through at least Nov. 1. O'Shea noted that Longmeadow still has a town-wide mask mandate and that the Board of Health also does not seem to be lifting that any time soon.

School Committee member Susan Bell asked for an update on how the youngest children and those most challenged with masks are doing.

"So far the compliance has been great. Children have responded appropriately to it. I'm hearing from administrators that there's a lot of prompting and correction that needs to be done, or at least at the beginning of the school year that needed to happen. With students who need to see facial expressions or a teacher's mouth or social skills development or speech therapy, we have adults frequently wearing clear masks, students wearing clear masks or they're outside for speech therapy services whenever possible," responded O'Shea.

He also said that they are willing to make necessary accommodations for students.

"We definitely will try to work with families if there are any academic or behavioral challenges associated with wearing a mask," said O'Shea.

The School Committee then discussed lunchtime loneliness, a topic first brought up at the previous meeting. Currently, grades K-8 are spaced six feet at lunch and grades 9-12 are three feet. This is to keep the number of close contact quarantines down, according to O'Shea. The main concern with this, however, is student isolation.

"Our administrators are making an extra effort to make sure that every kid has an opportunity to eat with a friend and even some of the desks have been rearranged to make it a little more welcoming," said O'Shea.

He noted that many schools are taking advantage of nice weather and adding extra picnic tables for outdoor dining.

"It's certainly on the radar screen of our administrators, but they're reporting to us that kids are happy and able to connect with friends as they make their way to lunch, in the lunch line and through outdoor dining where distancing requirements are not quite as strict," said O'Shea.

O'Shea also reached out to the Board of Health to review these distance measures. He said that they chose not to weigh in on the topic, as they felt it was more of a school and administrative matter.

"However, we did talk to officials that work for the Board of Health, our town nurse, the health director and our contact tracing coordinator and they all were in favor of us keeping that distance standard that we have at the K-8 level of six feet," he said.

The meeting then shifted to discuss how schools are supporting and providing access to materials for quarantined students.

"We have very few students who are positive right now and we have very few students who are quarantined," said O'Shea.

O'Shea said that, despite this, they have many options in place for quarantine access. He said that educators have extended their use of Google Classroom and have begun posting classroom assignments, videos, readings and more onto the platform.

He also said that they are looking into the possibility of hiring academic tutors. These tutors would be able to make connections with quarantined students during the school day. He noted that hiring the tutors could be a challenge right now.

"Like every industry in America right now, finding qualified individuals for these positions is a challenge," said O'Shea.

Longmeadow Public Schools is also looking into the option of working with Paper. Paper is an online, chat-based tutoring program that is available to students 24/7. O'Shea said that Paper provides students with homework help, writing feedback and study support. Paper is completely transparent and accessible to educators, which would help them be able to see what kids are struggling with and where learning gaps exist.

O'Shea also said that Paper does not see any identifiable characteristics of students, only their first names. The tutors help students work through problems and never give them any answers, he said.

The School Committee said that this could be an extremely helpful option for grades 6-12. They are unsure whether it would be necessary for younger grades, but said they would double back on this topic.

Those interested in viewing the Longmeadow School Committee Meeting in its entirety are encouraged to visit the LongmeadowTV YouTube page.

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