Good Afternoon, Reading Public School Families,

I wanted to share with you some thoughts and reflections as we now enter our eighth week of this public health crisis and school closure.  During this time, I have seen and experienced how our school and town employees and the community can come together and overcome the obstacles that face us during this health crisis.  For example, I have seen first hand our teachers, administrators, and other staff step up to this challenge, reinvent school on the fly, and work tirelessly to try to provide connection, support, and learning opportunities for the 4300 students in the Reading Public Schools.  There are some amazing and creative ways that our teachers are connecting with our students and teaching them interactive lessons.  Our community has rallied around our RMHS Class of 2020 with lawn signs, balloons, virtual proms, and other upcoming activities..  I have also seen our food service, custodians, facilities staff, nurses, and technicians come to work on a regular basis, amidst this pandemic to make sure our buildings are safe and sanitized, our most vulnerable students have access to food and technology, and that our most compromised citizens in our community have access to public health support and foundational needs.  Throughout this pandemic, I have been honored to be a part of an outstanding group of town and school officials who have worked collaboratively to manage this crisis for our community.  One such example was this past week when town officials, police, fire, facilities, schools, DPW, public health, and over 50 volunteers, including 30 students, distributed 6000 face masks in less than 2 hours to our senior citizens.  Our community has clearly stepped up to the plate and this is the part of Reading that makes me proud to be part of this community..

I have observed as we have phased in remote learning that there are three groups of families, a group that is overwhelmed with what we are offering, a group that is very happy with what we are doing, and a group that feels we are not doing enough and they want more synchronous time for their children.  We appreciate the many positive comments and constructive feedback that we have received from parents from all different grade levels.  This feedback has been very helpful as we continue to improve what we are doing.  Unfortunately, we have also received our share of negative, hurtful, and unconstructive comments.   In some ways, it is understandable, given the fact that we are all juggling multiple responsibilities and there is a growing level of frustration because we have not been able to live our “normal” life as we knew it just 8 short weeks ago.  However, when negative comments become personal and attacking to the very people I described above, I feel compelled to respond.

Last week was Teacher Appreciation Week, a time in our country where we show our appreciation for the work our teachers do each and every day for our students.  Even more so this year, we can see first hand how important teachers are to our society.  Unfortunately, during a week of what should have been celebration, especially during this challenging year, turned into a referendum with some members of the community with negative facebook posts and an anonymous survey asking parents to compare classrooms across the district to see if there are inequalities with remote learning.  Needless to say, our staff can view these posts and one can only imagine how they must feel.  Other hurtful and disrespectful posts and emails have been sent over the last several weeks to teachers, principals, administrators, myself, and School Committee members, portraying a school district where no one is learning, no one is being supported, and in which no one cares about their children.  This is far from the truth.

I will be the first to admit that what we have done over the last 8 weeks is not perfect and I wish that we had a remote learning platform prior to the pandemic where we could just flip the switch and go to this new world.  I will take responsibility for that gap in our infrastructure and we are working as quickly as possible on a solution.  We also know that there are inconsistencies in what we are doing across grade levels and schools and we are working to improve those inconsistencies.  However, in spite of all of those challenges and their own personal challenges, I am very proud of what our teachers, staff and administrators have done in this short period of time.  Like you, most are juggling their own family responsibilities, some are caring for sick members, and others are sick themselves.  But, throughout all of this health crisis, they have done everything that they can do to connect with our students and help them learn in this virtual world.

We know that we have challenges up ahead. Like any crisis, the only way that we are going to successfully navigate through this pandemic is by working together and not against each other.  We appreciate the work that families are doing to juggle their own situations and we know that everyone is stressed, tired, and concerned about when this will end and what daily life (school, work, and community events) will look like going forward..  The Reading Public School Educators have the same concerns and are developing plans to address those areas.  This new educational world will take planning, patience, and time.  But, at the end of the day, we will be a better school district for all students and better prepared for the next challenge that lies ahead, if we are all working together.  This is the Reading I know.  This is the Reading I hope we can be.