lBy ZACK DeLUCA
NORTHFIELD — The Pioneer Valley Regional School District School Committee will meet on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 6:30 p.m., to hear a presentation, and vote, on the district’s reopening plan and policies for the upcoming school year.
Superintendent Jonathan Scagel sent a letter to district families Monday, notifying them of the meeting. Scagel said the district has worked to gather information and feedback to develop protocols that will keep students and staff safe, while creating a productive learning environment.
“We know our families are anxious to make the best decision possible for their student(s), and our staff is equally eager to prepare for the upcoming school year,” Scagel wrote in the letter.
He said the district will send a detailed reopening plan along with the “Returning to School Selection Form” to families on Wednesday, Aug. 5, the day after the School Committee’s vote. Families are asked to carefully review the information and make their selection no later than midnight on Friday, Aug. 14. Parents and guardians can email their school principals with questions.
“We know school will look different in the fall, but the district is confident that we can meet health and safety requirements with all students in school simultaneously,” Scagel said.
Scagel, a member of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s Return-to-School Working Group, said weeks of discussion and the current low transmission rates of COVID-19 in Massachusetts, have led to a “clear consensus that in-person learning is the preferred model.” While remote learning has improved over the course of the school closures, Scagel said there is no substitute for in-person instruction, and that being in school also supports students’ social-emotional needs, including their mental and physical health.
The district administrative team has met regularly, and has established two reopening planning committees — one for Pioneer and one for the elementary schools — to review the guidance and develop three reopening plans, as required by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Each committee is composed of 15 to 18 members including teachers, administrators, medical professionals, support staff and presidents of the two unions.
Looking to meet the needs of all students, Scagel said the district is offering two distinct options (as well as a hybrid model) for learning in the upcoming school year. Option A involves in-person learning in school for five days a week, with certain modifications. Option B involves remote learning at home through a combination of online classes and assignments. Scagel noted that students may transition between options A and B during the school year.
According to Scagel’s letter, the scenario of in-person learning assumes that current positive public health metrics hold and that the community as a whole commits to following critical health requirements. The hybrid learning scenario assumes the district cannot meet health and safety requirements with all students in school simultaneously. In the hybrid model, cohorts of students alternate between in-person and remote learning. The third scenario, remote learning, assumes the pandemic requires widespread school closures.
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has also stated that parents and guardians who are concerned about their children returning to in-person school full-time, such as for students who have underlying medical vulnerabilities, can choose to keep their children learning remotely.
To view Tuesday’s meeting, watch the live stream on the BNCTV Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/bnctelevision/
Recordings will be posted to: https://www.bnctv.net/. The link to access is available on the meeting agenda on the PVRS website.
Zack DeLuca can be reached at zdeluca@recorder.com or 413-930-4579.