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Date: 8/17/2021
GRANBY – The details of students and staff returning to full time, in-person learning for the 2021-2022 school year was a significant topic of discussion at the most recent Granby School Committee meeting.
The Aug. 11 meeting took place in a hybrid model with School Committee members, except Superintendent Stephen Sullivan, and some residents attending the meeting in person while others chose to attend the meeting via Zoom.
One of the first subjects discussed was the school enrollment dashboard. Sullivan led the discussion and said he wanted to give the School Committee a way to clearly access both School Choice and enrollment numbers. Sullivan, along with District Data Manager Stacey Cutrumbes, gave an overview of how the dashboard would look, what information would be shown and how regularly it would be updated.
District Nurse Leader Nancy Jenks then updated the committee on a donation they would need to approve. Jenks said she had received an email from a staff member who worked at Lowe’s part time. Lowe’s, she explained, was inquiring about the possibility of donating $500 worth of hand sanitizer and masks for the upcoming school year. Jenks said since it was a donation she had come to the meeting to seek the approval of the committee. The School Committee voted unanimously to approve the donation.
The School Committee then went on to discuss the possible addition of Juneteenth for the 2021-2022 school year. Sullivan said the last day of the upcoming school year was scheduled to take place on June 13. However, he said, “Should we have to extend by anything more than four days, then Juneteenth comes into play.”
Sullivan asked for the calendar to be amended “to make note that if we have to go to the 185th day, that it would be June 21, 2022 and not June 20 because Juneteenth would be observed on that Monday seeing as it is a Sunday holiday in 2022.” Chair of the committee, Jennifer Bartosz, said, “There’s not anything we can do about it, right? It’s a new federal holiday.”
Sullivan confirmed Bartosz’ statement and said it was a way to help families stay informed of the potential schedule change. “This is just a step to make sure families, it’s on their radar in the event that we have cancellations,” he said. Sullivan added there was “still a lot up in the air,” including if they’d be able to utilize blizzard bags during snow days, so adding it to the calendar sooner rather than later would be helpful.
Bartosz said the calendar should be updated before Aug. 24 and it could be sent out with back to school materials for families.
Committee member Jill Pelletier then suggested adding the start and end times for each school to the calendar, along with early dismissal times, which other board members agreed was a good idea.
The committee then moved on to discuss COVID-19 prevention guidance for the upcoming school year. Sullivan said the polices being addressed were the “COVID policy” and the other was “the mask policy.” He went on to address the state guidance that “strongly recommends that all students in grades K to sixth wear a mask when indoors except while eating.” He said the state was also recommending unvaccinated staff for all grades, unvaccinated students in grades 7 through 12 and visitors who are not vaccinated wear masks indoors.
Additionally, he said the state guidance suggested that those who are vaccinated may remain unmasked and “individuals at higher risk for severe disease from COVID-19 or with a household member who is at high risk are encouraged to mask regardless of vaccination status.” Sullivan said since the guidance, which was released on July 30, “a lot has changed.” He said Board of Health members were “really pushing vaccinations” and based on what they had seen from members of the Board of Health they would be supporting mask wearing.
Sullivan said the Board of Health members were “really concerned” about vaccination rates, and as of Aug. 9, he had heard from Board of Health member Richard Bombardier that Granby’s vaccination rate was less than 50 percent for those aged 12 to 40-years-old. According to data he received as of Aug. 9, 47 percent of those 12 to 15-years-old had received at least one dose of the vaccination. “I think with the low vaccination rates and the surge from this delta variant, I think the Board of Health is certainly urging caution and certainly pushing vaccinations and I anticipate – I would not be surprised in we see a mask mandate in Granby by the time we meet next, regardless of what decision may be made here,” he said.
Vice Chair Stephanie Parent said as of Aug. 10 there were three new positive COVID-19 cases, Aug. 9 there had been two positive cases and on Aug. 8 there had been eight positive cases. Bartosz said, “Even with vaccination[s], the cases in town are about where we were last year in the week before Thanksgiving, so hopefully it’s not going to be that same trend.” She said while they needed to figure out if they would mandate masks, she wanted to know what the administration was thinking about class sizes and lunches.
Sullivan said there were no distancing requirements from the state, and he added masks would be required on school buses and in nurses’ offices as part of a federal mandate. He said while they wanted to be cautious with their lunches, offering extra lunches at schools during the previous year had “presented some previous challenges.”
“I don’t know how sustainable that is,” he said, while Bartosz added they hadn’t had the “whole population” of the student body in person. Sullivan said they had been exploring some options for lunches, but the state had not given any requirements. Bartosz clarified the mask mandate was only for indoors, which Sullivan said was the case. Both agreed that some lunches could take place outside during the nice weather.
After some discussion, Bartosz said “as much as it pains me” she felt as though it made sense to enforce a mask mandate for students. Sullivan said while he agreed with Bartosz that this was not where they thought they’d be at this point in time, he emphasized that they’d have the opportunity to make changes later in the year if needed. In discussion among members of the committee, all agreed that a mask mandate for students was a “small sacrifice to make” to keep students in the classroom and learning in person.
Bartosz emphasized that there was no longer a remote option available to students, which Sullivan confirmed. “There is no remote option, kids are coming to school unless they choose to do something else,” she said. Parent asked for clarification that the mask mandate would be for all students and faculty, to which Bartosz said “everyone” including all visitors would be required to wear masks. Sullivan said while there would have to be a negotiation with the South Hadley Teacher’s Union to implement a mask mandate for staff, he didn’t foresee it being an issue.
“I don’t think this is going to come as a surprise, I think it’s going to upset some people. My personal opinion is it’s a small price to pay to ensure we have students in person, five days a week,” he said. “And I think ultimately that’s our goal and I know I don’t want to be working full time and have my children home again this year. So if we can prevent that this way, I think it’s a fair step.”
Ultimately, the committee decided not to vote on the mask mandate until their next meeting on Aug. 24 to allow additional time for guidance and or public comment. When asked about staff who would be entering the building prior to the decision, Sullivan said staff had already received an email from him “strongly encouraging” them to wear masks while inside buildings.
While addressing the return to school, Sullivan said new teachers would attend orientation and training on Aug. 25 and 26 and the full staff would return on Aug. 26 and 27. Students would return not long after with those in grades one through 12 returning on Aug. 30 and pre-K and kindergarten students returning on Sept. 7. He said at the Aug. 24 School Committee meeting, his entry plan would be part of the agenda. He said the “plan has already started” but it required “ironing some details out.”