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Date: 11/23/2020
WEST SPRINGFIELD – On Nov. 13, West Springfield Mayor William Reichelt met with the city’s health and safety team to discuss a schedule to “phase back into the schools within the hybrid model.”
The model is still split into cohorts, with Cohort A going in-person on Mondays and Tuesdays, and Cohort B going into school on Thursdays and Fridays. The Cohort C model, according to Reichelt, is dedicated to those who wish to continue remote learning.
According to a Facebook post from the mayor, the new plan is as follows: Cohort A for Early Childhood through second grade will be returning to school on Nov. 23, while Cohort B will return Dec. 3; Cohort A of grades 3-5, 6, and 9 will return on Nov. 30, while Cohort B will return Dec. 3; and Cohort A for grades 7-8 and 10-12 will return Dec. 7, while Cohort B will return Dec. 10.
On Oct. 30, West Springfield Public Schools announced that they had to pivot to full remote learning due to a spike in community and regional COVID-19 cases. The full remote model began on Nov. 2, and remained in effect for two weeks.
In a Nov. 17 school committee meeting, Superintendent Timothy Connor described the new hybrid schedule as “tentative,” as the city continues to monitor the amount of cases affecting the school district, and the city at large.
According to Connor, as of Nov. 16, 25 percent of students in the entire district have chosen to go full remote for the 2020 school year, while 75 percent are sticking to the hybrid model. COVID-19 numbers are currently rising in the city, according to Connor.
“We continue to see those numbers climbing, and we need to change that path,” said Connor. “We continue to plead with people to wear the masks, socially distance … we are not getting the job done in West Springfield.”
Following the guidelines will be critically important in getting students back to school, according to Connor.
The superintendent also emphasized how the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and Gov. Charlie Baker redefined the color coding system in some aspects. For example, the metric for what was considered a “red zone” before has now changed.
“They [DESE and the governor] have some designations and some guidance of what they think should happen in those colors,” said Connor. “I can’t say that I agree with some of their metrics here in terms of what they consider we should be in. But there are some other guidances here that are meaningful for people to understand.”
To make decisions with regards to getting students back into school, Connor and the city of West Springfield have decided to dive deeper into the data, and find out how COVID is directly affecting the entire district.
“Once we get the data that comes out on Thursday nights, on Friday mornings, we have our safety team that meets,” said Connor. “We break down the data, we look at the data, and that will be the mechanism that will help me make a decision on which direction to go in, in terms of either opening or closing the schools.”
Connor said that they specifically look at “trend data” throughout the district. As of Nov. 17, that trend for COVID-19 cases was on the rise.
School Committee Member William Garvey showed skepticism with regards to the information provided by the governor and DESE, stating that the data is “apples and oranges.”
“I am more than comfortable with the decisions that will be made on Friday mornings,” said Garvey. “But that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t discuss these things.”
During the discussion, Garvey also pointed how “irresponsible” it was for the governor to state how safe it was for students to return to school, when cases are rising daily in districts such as West Springfield. He also questions where the data is coming from.
“I can’t contest that in terms of where does trust come in,” said Connor. “And I think we’ve lost that [trust] at the state level, and I am not afraid to say that.”
Garvey commended Reichelt for offering free COVID-19 tests for West Springfield residents at the West Springfield High School on Nov. 19, but also said that this should be done statewide, too.
“If we really wanted students back in school, we would be offering testing to communities like this all of the time, and not having to do it on our own,” said Garvey. “But obviously, that is not coming.”