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Date: 11/3/2021
LONGMEADOW – The Longmeadow School Committee met to discuss a variety of agenda items including the current mask mandate, vaccination rates and COVID-19 testing on Oct. 26.
Superintendent M. Martin O’Shea reported that there are currently eight active COVID-19 cases among students as of Oct. 25.
“We have recently experienced a bit of an uptick in terms of the number of active cases that we’re tracking and the number of students who are in quarantine,” said O’Shea.
He reminded students and families to stay vigilant in preventing COVID-19 and noted that their district-wide test and stay program has been “very, very active” in recent weeks. Since Oct. 18, the district has administered 160 rapid tests.
“It’s been only two positive tests that have come from that, so that diagnostic program is working as we had hoped and it’s an opportunity for staff or students, if they’re symptomatic, to check in with our testers and it’s also an opportunity to allow students who are identified as close contacts the opportunity to remain in school if they successfully receive a negative test five days in a row,” he said.
According to O’Shea, they are currently seeing more COVID-19 activity in their elementary schools than at the middle and high school levels.
“Certainly an important time to remind everybody of the importance of staff, families and all of us adhering to all the strategies that we know work,” he said.
O’Shea also gave an update on reported vaccination rates among staff and students.
At Longmeadow High School, 56 percent of staff have submitted evidence of vaccination status to Human Resources. Out of 911 total students, 75.85 percent have been reported as vaccinated in the Massachusetts Immunization Information System.
At Glenbrook Middle School, 63 percent of staff have reported vaccination and out of 228 students, 50.89 percent are vaccinated. At Williams Middle School, 54 percent of staff have reported vaccination, and out of 311 students, 55.563 percent have been vaccinated.
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education recently extended their mask mandate to Jan. 15, 2022. If schools are able to reach 80 percent of staff and students vaccinated before then, they have the option to make masks optional.
Right now, none of the Longmeadow schools are at this percentage.
“I know that this committee has made it clear to the community that we want to continually commit to reviewing the mask policy and so, hopefully, this is some information that might be helpful to you in that ongoing review,” said O’Shea. “We’ll keep giving staff the opportunity to submit evidence of vaccination and we’ll keep drilling down into that database.”
With the Longmeadow Board of Health rescinding their town-wide mask mandate, Longmeadow Schools would have the option to get rid of masks if they reach 80 percent vaccination.
O’Shea also gave an update on the Career Tech Program.
“I appreciate the committee’s really strong interest in the Career Tech Program. We’ve had some really rich conversations with several members of the committee,” he said.
This program provides vocational experiences for students at the high school. O’Shea said there are currently 19 students participating in the program. He said this is the highest number they have had in about 10 years.
“It’s a rich program, very up-to-date facilities. It provides a great opportunity for students that want to get a jump start on a trade as a potential career option for them,” said O’Shea.
He said that both himself and the School Committee want to make sure they are doing their part to keep families and students aware of this great opportunity. According to O’Shea, they are interested in growing the number of ninth graders participating in the program.
“We want to make sure that our ninth graders understand that they can in fact join Career Tech and really get a start on all the great offerings that they have over there,” he said.
There are currently only three to four ninth grade students participating in the program, according to O’Shea.
Those interested in viewing the School Committee Meeting in its entirety are encouraged to visit the LongmeadowTV YouTube page.