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Date: 8/18/2020
WESTHAMPTON – School districts have been busy trying to plan for the 2020-2021 school year. Due to COVID-19, the planning looks a lot different.
Westhampton has chosen to start the school year in a hybrid model for the first four weeks. The 4-1 vote was taken at the Westhampton School Committee’s Aug. 6 meeting. One member voted in favor of fully remote education.
School will start Sept. 16, which reduces 10 days from the academic calendar. Those 10 days will be used for professional development for teachers to plan for the school year.
Under the hybrid model, students will be split into two groups by last name. A to L will attend school in-person Monday and Tuesday while M to Z will be remote learning. The groups will swap for Thursday and Friday. All students will be remote on Wednesday which also gives the school janitors time to deep clean.
Westhampton School Committee Chair Brigid O’Riordan, said the school has formed a planning committee that will firm up what their hybrid plan will look like. They still have to get some pieces together, she explained.
The hybrid model prepares kids to work from home, unlike last year when they were thrown into remote learning. O’Riordan shared that the committee believes they will have to shift from the hybrid to remote model and students will not be fully in-person this year.
“I think the plan is to be flexible in this year because it could change in any moment,” said O’Riordan.
She understands that people are trying to accommodate children because being remote and unable able to see each other is not optimal. O’Riordan also said the classes this year will be a lot smaller. One grade might have 11 kids in a classroom while the rest will have fewer.
The Southampton School Committee voted to start the school year in the hybrid model for the first four weeks as well. “The goal is to do this for the first four weeks understanding we may extend it. It is our hope to move to full return before December, assuming all the safeguards and metrics support the move,” said School Committee Chair Jon Lumbra.
Lumbra said the superintendent, nurse leader, principal and her staff have to present a set of metrics to the school committee for approval, no later than Aug. 26 that will spell out the process in whether or not they move towards a full return, remain as they are or reverse course and go full remote.
“Once approved, this will be shared with the community so that if and when we are forced to make a change it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone,” Lumbra said.
The Southampton School Committee will meet at least every two weeks until further notice to continue to monitor everything. Lumbra said that the superintendent has the authority to close the school if he believes it is an emergency but only the school committee can take a permanent action, whether it be to full return, do a hybrid, or go full remote.
Changes to bus transportation system have been put in place as well. Guidelines call for the use of only 32 percent of each bus which leaves the districts purchasing new buses or reducing the number of kids able to get on.
“We currently transport 364 students to Norris and if we are limited to 24 seats per bus and assigning a monitor to each bus then we are limited to 23 students per bus, we would need a total of 16 buses,” Lumbra said.
Southampton currently has nine buses, so they would have to buy seven for a total cost of $245,000. Lumbra said they do not have an extra quarter of a million dollars and the bus company said they can not add any additional busses because they are unable to hire and train enough drivers.
They will only provide busing for those who are legally required to receive transportation and those that live at a distance of two miles or greater. This leaves them to transport 233 students and they still do not have the correct number of buses.
“So by going to hybrid and only transporting half the children we are able to make it with the nine buses,” Lumbra said.
Because Southampton is a rural farm community with a lack of crosswalks and sidewalks along College Highway, it creates a safety issue. The school committee has asked the administration to identify the walking paths that the 131 students displaced from the bus will use so they can identify where crosswalks will need to be installed and if crossing guards need to be hired.
The Hampshire Regional High School (HRHS) Committee voted to go fully remote with the exception of two small groups.
The first group is students with high needs, they will be in the building under any plan as required by the state. The second group is seventh graders. For the first two weeks, they will return in a hybrid model to get to know each other, meet teachers, and get familiar with the school.
Students with last names A to L will be in school on Monday and Tuesday and students with the last names M to Z will report in-person on Thursday and Friday. All students will be remote on Wednesday.
“For students who were choosing the remote option, what we would ensure that they would participate in some remote cohort activities and then in the afternoon between 1 and 2 p.m., all students from that class would video conference together in order to connect,” Principal Kristen Smidy said.
“At the end of the two weeks the school committee will meet and decide what to do next based on the feedback from the first group, admin recommendations, and local health metrics. That could range from going full remote to bringing in another group to the high school for a trial period,” School Committee Chair Carl Schlerman said.
To ensure the safety of students, they will follow all CDC requirements as well as any recommendations from both the local board of health and Stephanie Fass, RN BSN, nurse leader and health education coordinator for the district.
Parents from the Westhampton, Southampton, HRHS areas can choose to have their children learn entirely remote.
“The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) has made it clear, regardless of what we do, any parent has the absolute right to opt out and we will provide a DESE approved platform for that child[ren] appropriate age level,” Lumbra said.
Across the district, 921 new devices have been purchased, as well as software licenses to support remote learning and make it more effective. They are also looking to purchase hot spots for families that do not have internet access.