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Date: 4/22/2020
CHICOPEE - The Chicopee School Committee met on April 15 to vote on whether or not to continue distance learning through April vacation and to pass a motion that would continue to pay employees through May 4.
The school committee members, due to restrictions on gatherings because of the coronavirus, met via the video conference website, Zoom. Also in attendance was Chicopee Public Schools Legal Compliance Officer, attorney Rebecca Bouchard.
The brief meeting resulted in the passing of two motions that secured payment for employees while schools are closed due to the pandemic, and extended the students distance-learning plan to continue through April vacation.
Committee member Mary Elizabeth Pniak-Costello thanked Superintendent Lynn Clark for coming up with the motion that would allow employees to continue to get paid. “
“I know several employees had contacted me about this, laid the groundwork, so nobody misses a beat in regard to their pay,” she said. “I appreciate the creativity and the due diligence that the district is putting forth to make sure, under this new normal, these individuals will receive a paycheck.” The motion was passed unanimously.
The next motion proposed a change to the school calendar so that instead of students and employees being on vacation from Monday, April 20 to Friday, April 24, they would continue distance learning from April 21 to April 24. Clark explained the decision would “change our end date from June 19, 2020 to Monday, June 15, 2020.”
Committee member Sandra Peret emphasized that “a survey had been sent to the CEA membership and over 70 percent of those who responded preferred to do it.”
Costello said continuing distance learning was “crucial to how consistency continues with the learning and with the Chromebooks.”
Member Donald Lamonthe questioned whether days that would have normally been half days due to MCAS testing would become full days instead, should students return to school this year. Clark, however, said that had not been discussed by administrative staff yet.
The second motion also passed unanimously. To finish the meeting Mayor John Vieau expressed his pride in teachers and how they had taken on the challenge of distance learning.
“I just want to say to our teachers, I couldn’t be more proud of how they’re adapting to this creative, new way of educating students in the city of Chicopee,” he said. “We really appreciate all your hard work and effort to make sure that you’re keeping education active in the city of Chicopee.”