Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 12/9/2020
CHICOPEE – Members of the Chicopee Public Schools community received an email on Dec. 1 stating that all schools will remain remote until after the holidays. In the email, Superintendent Lynn A. Clark noted that “This is a temporary closure, and school buildings will reopen to students as soon as it is safe to do so. Learning is still a priority.”
The switch from hybrid to remote has concerned many Chicopee residents, as some feel it is not beneficial to either students or teachers. In response to the email on extended closures, one member of the Chicopee Area Community Forum on Facebook voiced her opinion.
“It’s unfortunate after eight months Chicopee still doesn’t know how to reopen safely. Winter is going to be rougher,” said Carol Krawiec.
However, many parents and community members commented on the forum supporting the committee’s decision.
“This is great! How could anyone send a child to school when the numbers just keep increasing? I know it’s hard but parents will have to step up and do whatever is needed to get through this,” Chicopee resident Kathy Sikes commented.
According to Clark, the current, consistent increase in transmission of COVID-19 makes it unsafe to return to in-person learning.
The Chicopee School Committee met on Dec. 1 to discuss the remote learning, finances and more. The meeting was hosted virtually. During announcements, many committee members emphasized maintaining social distancing, hand washing and mask wearing, especially during the holiday season.
The School Committee meeting also had public input from three Chicopee community members. Hannah Powers, a high school senior at Chicopee High, spoke to propose a change in the way remote learning is conducted.
Powers spoke about how disappointed she was with classes being remote during her last months as a senior. She also touched on how hard remote learning has been for both students and teachers alike.
“I am struggling and I know I’m not the only one,” said Powers. “We are drained and we need a break.”
Powers proposed the idea of taking Wednesdays as a day of extra help and catching up instead of attending full-remote classes. She spoke of how other districts in the area have this in place and how it could benefit Chicopee students and staff.
With Powers’ proposal, Wednesdays would be a day where attendance was taken in class and then students were given the opportunity to log off of Zoom and do work that didn’t involve screens. Students could also use this time to stay on Zoom and ask their teacher for help on anything they are struggling with.
According to Powers, this could also help teachers. Teachers would be able to help individual students who need it or take the time to plan future lessons and grade.
“Even a small change such as this could start a better classroom environment for all,” said Powers.
The committee thanked Powers for her proposal and public input.
Another important discussion during the meeting revolved around MCAS. One committee member, Marybeth Costello, asked Clark if MCAS will be administered this year with remote learning.
Clark stated that right now it is not up to her or DESE to decide if MCAS will be administered. This decision will come from the federal level. Clark said that there is a possibility the test will just be administered to juniors and seniors that need to be retested.
“They’re not giving us a lot of guidance at this time because they can’t, because it’s on the federal level,” said Clark.
One student in the Chicopee Public School District, Tim Wagner, spoke about his concerns with MCAS testing.
“Given the limitations that we’ve seen with remote learning and the difficulties that some students are having, I don’t think that we’re in a place that we can afford to administer this test to large numbers of students. I don’t think that it will be a successful outcome and I think you’re going to see scores dropping significantly from last year,” said Wager.
Costello then asked to make a motion that the Chicopee School Committee send a letter to the parties involved in the MCAS decision and that they state the district thinks the MCAS must be waived this year.
However, according to Clark, seniors cannot graduate without taking the MCAS and a retest is already scheduled for January. The motion could then be amended to waive the test for everyone, excluding seniors. Some committee members expressed they think it would be best to try and waive it for seniors as well, but there would be complications to work out.
To end the meeting, student athletes and face coverings were discussed along with protocol for absences during remote learning.
Sean Mackin, coordinator of athletics for Chicopee Public Schools, said that coaches have reminded and enforced that players wear masks properly during games. Right now, all sports are over for the season. Mackin said that there was zero percent transmission of COVID-19 within Chicopee sports teams so far. He emphasized how sports coaches took all necessary precautions very seriously and worked to keep players safe.
“Our coaches are COVID coaches first,” said Mackin.
The protocol for both students and staff calling out of school during remote learning is the same as during in-person, according to Clark. She said they haven’t had any problems continuing it this way and that absences are actually down significantly this year.
With a variety of different opinions on the decision to keep Chicopee schools remote, Clark emphasized the importance of reaching out to administrators if help is needed.
“Administration and school offices are open for phone calls during normal business hours. As always, we are committed to academic excellence, community-building, and social-emotional support for your child – no matter where they are learning. We are grateful for your partnership. Please stay healthy,” she said to end her district-wide email.