Memo details required COVID-19 supplies for Mass. schools to re-open in the fall

BOSTON — Summer is arriving in Massachusetts and many businesses are starting to reopen in Phase 2 of Governor Charlie Baker’s plan to move forward under the blight of COVID-19, but schools remain uncertain about a return to the classroom in the fall.

Monday, June 8, some restaurants and retail stores were given the go-ahead to begin opening their doors to customers with tight restrictions.

But schools, which transitioned to online-only learning midway through the spring semester, remain on hold when it comes to planning for the fall. That guidance will take another week or two, according to a spokesperson for the state’s department of education.

A memo outlining all the supplies schools would need to have on hand if students and teachers were to return to the classroom indicates the state is giving the schools the chance to order all of these supplies ahead of the school year in case they were to open.

However, Baker has given no indication as to whether schools will return to the classroom in the fall.

[Restaurants, retail stores and other businesses reopening with guidelines Monday for start of Phase 2]

That guidance includes strict social distancing measures, hygiene protocols and upwards of thousands of disposable masks.

A document detailing the guidelines indicates schools will need at least 100 masks per week, for every 100 students in attendance. Students, of course, are required to arrive at school wearing their own masks from home, but schools will have to have extras on hand.

There will also need to be 500 masks per week, for every 100 teachers or staff members present. School nurses, on the other hand, will require 10 per week, per school nurse.

Schools to reopen with desks 6 feet apart, masks for everyone