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Date: 11/4/2020
EASTHAMPTON – During the school committee meeting on Oct. 27, they discussed items such as MCAS, school surveys, and snow days.
Committee member Marin Goldstein and the committee’s secretary, Marissa Carrere, shared a draft letter they wrote requesting that the state place a moratorium on the MCAS testing for this academic year.
Carrere mentioned that the education commissioner recently suggested that MCAS testing will go on as usual and take place in the spring.
In the draft that Carrere read, it said that not only has the virus disrupted the lives of students but the state has not provided schools with proper tools, support, or funding to successfully teach students remotely or safely reopen their schools.
Carrere and Goldstein listed reasons as to why the school committee is against having MCAS testing this year. Some of the reasons were, it puts additional pressure on public school educators who are already overtasked in meeting the individual and highly varied needs of students learning during a pandemic, it poses a health risk to families who have otherwise elected remote-only schooling, and it puts additional stress on students who are already challenged to adapt to learning under the conditions of the pandemic.
The two members also included that during normal circumstances, it cost the state approximately $30 million annually and this year it would likely cost more to administer under the conditions of the pandemic.
“During a time in which public funds are urgently needed to address the myriad costs associated with educating during a pandemic,” Carrere read.
The committee approved of the letter. Mayor Nicole LaChappelle suggested that the committee should send it to state Secretary James Peyser, send it to state Sen. Ed Markey and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and Congressman Richard Neal.
The school committee will also bring it forward to other school committees in the region to see if they will pass similar resolutions so Easthampton is not the only place the request is coming from.
Superintendent Allison LeClair shared that during her conference call with the commissioner of education, superintendents asked about MCAS and he said that the current Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos has made it clear that she will not give out a waiver to states at this time.
LeClair said DeVos could have a different feeling after the election but without the waiver issued from the federal level, the states are powerless to do any of the next steps.
The superintendent announced the results from the Easthampton Public School remote learning survey. There were a total of 406 responses.
There were varying responses about how well remote learning is going for families. Many families complimented the teachers and the actual zoom classes. Responses for what parts of remote learning are not working well ranged from connectivity issues, families struggling with the programs like freckle and epic, and students sitting at the computer all day.
The survey also asked families if they are interested in the transition to a hybrid model which would be two days of in-person learning.
Approximately 51 percent of families voted yes, 34 percent said no, and 15 percent said they were not sure.
LeClair also brought forth the first-grade hybrid interest survey. The survey had 97 responses.
The survey asked families if the health metrics allowed students to return to a hybrid model, two days of in-person learning, and three days remote, would their child participate.
Approximately 50 families said yes, 9 said no, 31 said they were not sure at this time, and 7 families said they plan on keeping their child remote.
“I think that we have consistently shown in every survey that we have done since the summer, that the majority of our families are interested in coming back to school in person. They really are looking for that experience for their child,” LeClair said.
Committee Member Laurie Garcia said that she is concerned about all the families that are unsure. She believes the lack of answers is because it is impossible to do things safely. Garcia shared that before kindergarten students were sent back, parents wanted to know what their day would look like.
“They did not have answers to all their questions and they decided that it was safer to keep their children home and I agree with them if they did not have the answers. We have to work together as a school committee to answer questions so people will think that it is safe,” Garcia said.
LeClair suggests that parents that have specific questions like ‘how will lunch work’ should reach out to their child’s teacher or the building principal to ask the question because they have that information as well.
If there is severe weather that prevents travel to the schools, Easthampton will have remote days rather than have a full day off like a typical snow day.
Goldstein mentioned that there are already limitations surrounding kids getting out into nature and having remote learning on what would be a snow day, will limit the students getting outside even more. He suggested that they should allow snow days this academic year.
Garcia agreed with Goldstein and suggested that the committee come to a compromise. She suggested that for the first big storm, they get their snow day. She also suggested that they have a half-day, where students get the hours in but then they also get to enjoy the snow.
LeClair said she will explore to see if they can do something like a half-day and if so, how often and will get back to the committee.
The committee also voted to open learning centers at the high school as soon as possible.
School Committee Chair Cynthia Kwiecinski told Reminder Publishing that although kindergarteners have begun in-person learning, the schools are still in the Remote Plus Plan.
“Our first grade students will start at the high school on Nov. 16 if all goes well. On Nov. 10 we will begin to talk about when we think we can start Hybrid learning,” said Kwiecinski.