BOSTON — Nearly 400,000 Massachusetts students have not stepped foot inside a classroom for nearly a year because of the COVID pandemic.
On Tuesday, the state’s education commissioner told members of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education that he will ask them next month for the authority to determine when hybrid and remote school models no longer count for learning hours.
Commissioner Riley said he would pursue a phased approach with the goal of getting as many kids as possible back into classrooms by the end of this school year, focusing first on elementary school students and then on older grades.
Boston 25 News spoke one-on-one with Riley Wednesday morning and asked him if he’s given the authority, what happens to the districts that do not comply.
“If we’re given the authority to do this, regulations have the force of law, and so if we are able to bring kids back and we do get that authority,” Riley said, “Essentially, people would be breaking the law if they did not follow the guidance.”
He added that the state will work with all of the districts to try to get students back to in-person learning.
“What we’ve seen is the numbers have come way down, the cases and transmissions have come down about 70% over the last 5 weeks, vaccinations are being put in arms and maybe most importantly we’ve proven a success and a great job of using the mitigation strategies: masking handwashing, etc… to show that is very limited or no transmission in schools and then we can bring kids back safely,” he said.
Some towns and teachers’ unions have said vaccinating educators is the pathway to returning to in-person learning, and have placed the blame on the Baker administration for not moving teachers up on the list to be vaccinated sooner.
During a Norwell school committee meeting, committee member Mary Lou O’Leary told parents to contact Baker’s office, saying, “basically what it all boils down to for our little town is Governor Baker.”
But Riley defended the Biden administration’s position that vaccination is not a prerequisite for opening schools, and said Gov. Charlie Baker has prioritized educators. “We [educators] are next in line after the 65 year-olds, so we’re hopeful that the vaccines will be rolling out to people in the school fields.”
On Tuesday, the Massachusetts Teachers Association released a statement calling the commissioner’s announcement a surprise and unwelcome announcement. The MTA said Riley and Baker should “go back to the drawing board” and talk with educators, parents and school committees.
Riley responded by saying DESE completely disagrees, stating, “we’ve tried to work with the unions all along. We gave them 10 additional days of training at the beginning of the year to work on health and safety metrics. No state in the country provided that amount of training for the teachers. We care deeply about the students and our teachers at the same time we recognize that there will be a time when kids have to go back to school. Other states have brought kids back more robustly than we have, even local New England states. And this union for whatever reason has been resisting every turn.”
Riley also stressed that it is safe for students to return to the classroom with 3 feet of spacing. He said it’s happening across the world and in other states, and special education classes in Massachusetts have been operating at 3 feet or less successfully.
“There does not seem to be a discernible difference. What we’re hearing from the medical community, and I was given a letter they wrote me last week, saying that it’s time to get the kids back in school, stick with the 3 feet for the guidance and bring the children back,” said Riley.
Riley said he’s concerned about the emotional well-being of students, and their mental health, citing rising cases of suicidal ideation, anxiety and depression. He said the second issue, is of course the academic loss, and that nothing can take the place of in-person learning.
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