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Date: 11/4/2021
SOUTH HADLEY – The South Hadley School Committee met to discuss the high school making up lost days due to mold and to give an update on COVID-19 testing at their Oct. 21 meeting.
During the South Hadley Education Association update Amy Foley, English and special education teacher at South Hadley High School, noted how happy teachers are to be back in the classroom.
“I have never appreciated being in-person more this year than I have ever before. I think I took it for granted before the pandemic and I feel like the pandemic made me appreciate that and made me be a better teacher as a result,” said Foley.
She said even though staff are happy to be back, they know there are still challenges ahead. One issue is how they will make up the 11 days missed due to mold in the high school.
“We are frustrated with the process because of the guidelines that DESE [Department of Elementary and Secondary Education] is setting forth for us in how we have to make up these days,” said Foley.
According to Foley, there is a possibility of making up the days on Saturdays. She said that this is frustrating to both students and staff as some have other jobs, would need childcare and more. She asked any decisions or updates on how to make up the days be given to staff ahead of time so they can stay in the loop.
Superintendent Jahmal Mosley noted that they are still in negotiations on how to make up these days and that nothing has been finalized yet. He said they would continue to update when possible. Since then, on Oct. 25, Mosley penned a letter to the district sharing the make-up days for high school staff and students, which includes four Saturdays, as a result of the mold remediation. The dates are as follows: Nov. 2, Nov. 6, Nov. 20, Dec. 4, Dec. 18, Feb. 22, Feb. 23, Feb. 24, Feb. 25 and April 15.
Back in the meeting, Mosley then gave an update on COVID-19 and testing.
“COVID-19’s going to be here for a long time and we have to recognize that and we have to recognize that in a way that COVID-19’s going to be part of our learning community, our practices for the foreseeable future,” he said.
Mosley said that they are having staffing challenges this year and are looking to hire teachers, paraprofessionals, nurses and more.
“We could really use people to apply for the jobs if they’re out there and they’re interested,” said Mosley.
Staffing issues are one reason that COVID-19 testing has had a delayed start, according to Mosley. He said that they have applied for state COVID-19 testing and were accepted. They now need to make sure that they have the right staff to facilitate testing.
According to Mosley, they have made some progress by hiring a Nurse Lead and two certified nurses.
“And that’s just to start. There’s so much more than we still have to do,” he said.
Mosley said he sees parent, student and staff frustration when it comes to rolling out COVID-19 testing.
“I hear and understand the frustration around testing. I hear parents. I agree with you and we are, the collective we, are moving as fast as we can to make this come to fruition and reality for our kids and our staff and our families in South Hadley,” he said.
However, he noted that they are not going to rush into this and that they are going to be methodical.
“We are going to be methodical in rolling this out and I know the public would and can appreciate this. We don’t want to start something that’s not going to be practical and prudent and then people are going to be really upset because they don’t quite know how this all fits into the big picture and they’re not going to get the information or get the testing accurate,” said Mosley.
The COVID-19 testing will be optional and consent has to be given in order for students to enroll. Mosley said that he would release more information to the public as soon as possible.
Those interested in viewing the South Hadley School Committee Meeting in its entirety are encouraged to visit the South Hadley Community Television page.