Good Afternoon Reading Public School Staff and Families,

I hope you are doing well and enjoying this beautiful weekend.  Here are some updates:

1. Racial Incidents in RMHS Zoom Classes- This past week, there were several incidents of racist speech targeting our black and brown students at RMHS through the Zoom platform and on social media.  In each situation, an individual entered Zoom classroom sessions and proceeded to use the “N” word and subjected the teacher and students to racist verbal attacks.  The incidents were reported to administration, and we are currently carrying out an investigation. At this time, we do not know who the individual is or how they gained access to the Zoom classroom sessions.  As a precautionary measure, we have now mandated waiting rooms on all zoom accounts so that teachers invite only their students into the classrooms.   We are also reminding students not to share zoom links with others, especially on social media.

RMHS Principal Kate Boynton will be sending out further information to the RMHS community on this incident. As Superintendent of Schools, I am appalled at this type of behavior and I apologize to the families of color in our school community and to our teachers who were subjected to these incidents.These comments are hurtful and have a negative impact on our classrooms, our school culture, and our community.This type of behavior is not acceptable in our classrooms or in our community.

Our district has focused the last few years on racial equity and social justice.Several of our schools are participating in book discussions on this topic.The District Leadership Team and the Reading School Committee are discussing the book, Everyday Anti-Racism, Getting Real About Race in Schools.As part of our 10 days of training, METCO Director Grant Hightower presented to our staff about racial bias.

We know that we have a long way to go, as evidenced by this incident, however, we will continue to have the difficult conversations and focus on this work.

2. Phase In-As I mentioned at the School Committee meeting on Thursday evening, Grades 1, 2, 6, 7, and 8 will be phased in to a hybrid model, beginning on Tuesday, October 13^th.  Cohort B will be in person for that week.  Because the completion date of the modular classrooms at Birch Meadow have been delayed a few days, the phase in date for Birch Meadow will look a little different.  We will be communicating more information to Birch Meadow families in the next few days.

Dependent on filling vacancies of both teachers and paraeducators, we are still planning for the phase in of Grades 3-5 and 9-12 to be at the end of October. We will continue to keep you updated if circumstances change.

3. Student Absences-As we continue with remote learning, we want to continue to emphasize the importance of student attendance.  Remote learning days count as school days and the attendance guidelines put out by DESE emphasize that these days are to count the same as in person school days.  Here is some additional information regarding student absences:

Please let the school know if your child is exhibiting any of the symptoms associated with COVID-19.

If a child is on a remote week and calls in sick, but can access the lessons (attendance shows they were present), they are not marked absent.

Very similar to previous school years, if a student is in an in-person week and calls out sick, we will not be offering remote access for that student absence.

We will not be able to provide livestreaming or links for students to attend special education services on the days absent.

If a child is absent because they are quarantining or waiting for a COVID test results, the student can have access to the recorded live Zoom lessons at the end of the day.

4. Virtual Back to School Nights-Our schools will be holding virtual back to school nights, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. on the following evenings:

Elementary Schools-October 15^th

Middle Schools-October 22^nd

High School and RISE Preschool-October 29^th

Sessions will be recorded.Principals will be sending out more information with the virtual links in their newsletters.

5. Remote Learning Reminders-As described in the Acceptable Use Policy, parents and students should adhere to the following remote learning guidelines.

• The District strictly prohibits screenshots, pictures, downloading, audio/video recording and distribution of any virtual educational experience by students or parents in order to protect student privacy, proactively prevent potential cyberbullying, prevent the distribution of copyrighted materials and comply with Massachusetts law.   Please note that in Massachusetts, it is illegal to audio record another person through any medium without his or her knowledge.
• The District has made good faith efforts to ensure virtual platforms used comply with child Internet protection and confidentiality laws and do not sell, use or disclose any personally identifiable information or data for commercial purposes or to third parties. There are potential risks for Internet interruptions, unauthorized interruption by third party and technical difficulties. You can minimize the risk of breaches in confidentiality by not sharing any links, user name and passwords provided used for virtual opportunities access.  
• Students, and where appropriate parents/guardians, agree to engage in virtual educational experiences dressed appropriately, in a quiet, private area to the extent practicable given the circumstances, in order to minimize background noise and distractions and to protect the integrity of student engagement as well as student confidentiality.  It is the expectation that students use appropriate backgrounds for their virtual calls.
• The laws that protect the privacy and confidentiality of your child’s personally identifiable information apply to virtual educational opportunities just as they do during an in-person services. Parents/guardians and other household members who normally are not privy to day-to-day classroom and group service discussions agree to respect and keep confidential any personal or private information (e.g. disability status) inadvertently discovered about other students due to proximity of virtual education.

Have a great rest of the weekend and week ahead.

John F. Doherty

Superintendent

Reading Public Schools

82 Oakland Road

Reading, MA 01867

781-944-5800