Good Afternoon, Reading Public School Staff and Families

I hope that the beginning of your summer is going well.  It is our goal to continue to keep you informed throughout the summer on the ongoing changes regarding the reopening of school this fall.  On Thursday, you received communication from our district regarding DESE guidance on the reopening of school.  Based on that communication and additional information that we have received from the Commissioner, I wanted to update and deepen the previous communication.  If you have questions or comments, please do not hesitate to email me at john.doherty@reading.k12.ma.us.  In these ongoing communications, I want to emphasize that there are many questions that we do not have answers to at this time and circumstances and decisions may change based upon the most updated medical information and data.

In addition, I have attached the presentation that I gave on Thursday evening to the Reading School Committee regarding the results of the staff and family survey that was administered from June 14-22^nd and fall reopening information that was released on Thursday morning.  Hopefully, this information will be helpful to you as we continue to navigate these waters together.

Here are some additional updates.

1. The guidance that we received from DESE on Thursday is an initial guidance.  We will be receiving a final Fall Reopening Guidance later in July.  This guidance will be very comprehensive and include many areas that were not addressed in last Thursday’s information.
2. Based on the information that we received last Thursday, we have begun to review floor plans of every school and the square footage of every instructional space in each school.  From this analysis, we will be able to determine what adjustments we will need to make to schedules to fully implement the in person model and provide the appropriate physical distancing requirements of a minimum of three feet per person.
3. We will be required to submit three comprehensive plans to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education by early August.  Those three plans will be for an in person model, a hybrid model which will follow an A/B schedule, and a fully remote learning model. We will be receiving further information regarding the requirements of these models in the next several days.  Because of the uncertainty of the trajectory of the virus, we will need to be nimble during the next school year and it is possible that we will be switching from model to model based upon the medical information.
4. DESE has stated that the wearing of masks/face coverings for students and adults will be mandatory except for students in grades PreK-1 and anyone with a medical condition that would prohibit them from wearing a mask.  In addition, all bus students, regardless of age, will be required to wear a mask.
5. Over the next few weeks, we will be receiving DESE guidance on transportation, athletics, extra-curricular activities, band, chorus, and drama.  Once we receive that information, we will be putting forward more information on those areas and how it will impact the fall.
6. Assuming we will be implementing an in person model in the fall, we will be following the Massachusetts Curriculum Framework Standards with no modifications.  If we have to adjust to one of the other models, we will follow the state’s guidelines as to what will be adjusted.
7. If we have to go to a remote or hybrid model, our district and the state are looking at different learning platforms that we will access.  We hope to have some more clarity on our learning platform by early August.
8. We will be sending out a second survey to staff and families in mid to late July to get further data on a variety of topics.

Thank you again for your cooperation and patience.  Again, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Thanks,

John Doherty

Superintendent

Reading Public Schools

Fall Reentry Survey Presentation-2