Published: 8/24/2020 2:35:04 PM
AMHERST — No in-person classroom instruction will take place in the Amherst-Pelham Regional School District until at least Oct. 1, under a revised reopening plan.
The Amherst Pelham Education Association, which represents teachers, paraprofessionals and clerical staff, and the Amherst Pelham Regional School District, on Friday issued a joint statement that ongoing negotiations prompted at least a two-week delay in getting any students and instructors back into school buildings.
“We have agreed that the earliest possible start date for any students entering the building will now be October 1st, with a remote start for all students beginning on September 16th,” the statement reads.
Under initial plans submitted to the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the schools would use mostly remote instruction until Indigenous Peoples Day, with only pre-K though first grade at Amherst’s three elementary and pre-K through second grade at Pelham Elementary in school to start the school year.
The new plan will have these students, like older children, middle schoolers and high schoolers, learn from home, to “consider the ever-evolving public health context” and set standards for building safety, including the adequacy of the heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems and the use of personal protect equipment such as masks and hand sanitizer.
“We agree that a careful start to the school year will allow our students to engage in meaningful, safe learning,” the statement reads. “Careful collaborative planning will lead to better outcomes and fewer interruptions for our school community.”
The Amherst, Amherst-Pelham Regional and Pelham school committees will meet jointly again Tuesday to discuss more of the details on reopening and whether the timeline for a phased-in model, based on health metrics, can be used.
Under that plan and depending on there not being a surge in COVID-19 infections in the region, children in grades 2 and 3 in Amherst would come back in October, and grades 4 through 6 in Amherst and Pelham would return in November. Middle and high school students from the two towns, as well as Leverett and Shutesbury, would return for one day a week in November.
The decision to use more remote instruction is not being met favorably by a new group of parents and guardians that has formed as ARPS United. That group is circulating a petition calling for as much in-person learning as possible this fall.
“We implore the district and APEA to have a plan that provides the most in-person education as possible, for those families who choose in-person, with the protections and metrics that other districts have implemented in their hybrid models,” states a letter from the group.
Mary G. Klaes, one of the organizers, said she hopes that the district and union negotiators will rethink their plans and listen to parents and guardians about a safe hybrid plan that offers in-school learning, with the choice for families to choose whether to send or have their children stay remote.
The petition also calls for improved remote learning beyond what existed in the spring when schools had to abruptly close.
“We'll take more steps after receiving a response from this first phase of advocacy,” Klaes said.
The joint statement from the district and union indicates that there is an understanding about the problems with remote learning: “Together, we are devoted to developing robust, student-centered remote learning; as such, we have agreed on some broad parameters that we believe will make distance learning meaningful for all children in the district, with more live staff-student interactions, family engagement, and direct instruction.”
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
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