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Date: 8/31/2022
WEST SPRINGFIELD – Summer’s over and West Springfield public school students will see each other’s faces again on Sept. 1.
And they will really see each other’s faces, this year, with most masking requirements repealed for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic struck in March 2020.
School administrators are also excited about a new elementary school, a new superintendent, three new principals and the usual buzz surrounding the start of a new year.
“Have a great day and go Terriers!” said interim Superintendent Vito Perrone.
Students in grades 1-12 return on the first day of September. Kindergarten classes begin Sept. 2, and pre-K starts Sept. 6.
“Back to school is always a time of anticipation. New experiences, classes, teachers [and] staff, and seeing friends (and/or meeting new ones),” said School Committee member Diana Coyne.
And while there are some changes this year – most notably the opening of the brand-new Coburn School – in many ways, this September marks a return to normalcy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. This year marks the first full academic year since the beginning of the pandemic without a widespread mask mandate in schools, although masks will still be required to be worn in all school health offices, under regulations from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).
“The commonwealth is not recommending universal mask requirements, surveillance testing of asymptomatic individuals, contact tracing, or test-to-stay testing in schools,” reads a memo issued jointly by the DESE and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
Although there is no state-level requirement, West Side students will be required to wear a mask under certain circumstances, such as if they have recently tested positive for COVID-19. West Springfield will also continue to offer symptomatic testing in school, with parental consent.
“Children and staff who test positive must isolate for at least five days,” according to guidelines issued by the West Springfield School Department. “If they are asymptomatic or symptoms are resolving, and they have been fever free without the use of fever-reducing medicine for 24 hours, they may return to programming after day 5 and should wear a high-quality mask through day 10. If the individual is unable to mask, they may return to programming with a negative test on day 6 or later.”
For more information on West Side’s COVID-19 policies and procedures, email covidquestions@wsps.org.
There are three new principals in West Springfield schools this year: David Drugan at Coburn, Suzanne Tetrault at the John Ashley kindergarten center, and Mike Atkins at Mittineague School.
With a week to go before the start of school, there were 22 open positions for paraeducators in West Springfield. Perrone says this is due to a labor shortage, and not a growth in students with individualized education plans (IEPs), which are designed for students with disabilities and special learning needs. Paraeducators often play a vital role in assisting students with IEPs.
Although the new Coburn will be open in time for the first day of classes on Sept. 1, the parking lot where the old school formerly stood is not expected to be complete until November. Parents and guardians of Coburn students should familiarize themselves with the interim changes to pick-up and drop-off procedures, available at bit.ly/rp09ee.