Good Afternoon, Reading Public School Staff and Families,

I hope that you are enjoying your weekend.  Here is our latest winter hybrid update and an addendum which was added after the initial post.

• Information on Full In Person Opening-By now, I am sure that you have heard and have begun to process the Governor’s and Commissioner’s message on Tuesday about bringing back students in person five days per week.  Here is the information that we know based on the press conference earlier in this week and an additional meeting that I attended with the Commissioner on Wednesday.

• First and foremost, this has not been approved yet.  At a future meeting in the next week or so, Commissioner Riley is asking the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to grant him the authority to determine when hybrid and remote models no longer count for learning hours. This would be part of a broader plan, to be released in March, to begin returning more students to in-person learning this spring, assuming our state’s health metrics continue to improve.   If he is granted this authority, the Commissioner will pursue a phased approach to returning students to the classroom, working closely with state health officials and medical experts. Ideally, his initial goal is to bring all elementary school students back to in-person learning five days a week this April. Parents will still have the option for their children to learn remotely through the end of the school year. There will also be a waiver process for districts who may need to take a more incremental approach (for instance, to first move to a robust hybrid model if they are currently fully remote).

• If the Board approves, he is targeting April 5^th for the return date for Elementary students.  He did not give return dates for middle and high school at the meeting yesterday.
• These are regulations, not recommendations so, if approved, we will be required to follow them, unless we qualify for a waiver.
• The rationale for doing this sooner than later is to work out the challenges of transitioning to school full time during the spring, rather than wait until the fall.  In addition, if conditions allow, there will no longer be a remote option for parents in the fall if we are fully in person.

I am in full agreement that getting our students back in person more is the right thing to do.  However, from a Reading Public Schools perspective, returning to full in person learning for all students will come with several logistical and scheduling challenges.   First and foremost, a vaccine is not widely available for our staff at this point.  Hopefully, that will change with the addition of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine that was approved this weekend by the CDC.  In addition, the only way we would be able to implement full in person learning for all students will be to go below the 6 feet CDC recommended physical distancing in the classrooms.  In a typical classroom of 22-25 students, we will need to go as low as 3 feet in the arrangement of student desks, which will require more furniture to be moved from storage into most classrooms in the district.  Lunch will still need to be six feet physical distancing because masks are not being worn while students are eating.  Teacher and student schedules will need to be changed because it will not longer be a cohort model.  In addition, cleaning and disinfecting will need to look differently because the Friday model of deep disinfecting will no longer be an option.

I want to assure you that we are working on transition plans back to full in person learning.  These plans will continue to have a primary focus on health and safety and we will continue to keep as many of the mitigation efforts that we have in place as possible.  In the meantime, we will keep you informed when more information becomes available.

• Elementary Parent Survey for Third Marking Period-There are two clarifications that we would like to make regarding the Elementary Parent Survey for third marking period which was sent out yesterday to elementary parents.  First, we would like all families to complete one survey per elementary child regardless if your child (ren) are staying in the same model.  Because of the changes that may happen during third marking period, we need every family to respond.  In addition, when we are asking if you would like to have your child attend full in person school please assume that the physical distancing between desks in the classroom will be less than six feet and could be as low as three feet.  We plan on maintaining all other safety and health procedures that have been put in place.  If you have already completed the survey and would like to change your answer, just simply complete the survey again and put in the comment box at the end that you responded earlier, but you would like this survey used instead of the first response. Please complete this survey link no later than Friday, March 5th so we can make the necessary changes.

• Pooled Testing-We encourage staff and students to participate in pooled testing.  The link to give consent for staff and students to access testing is located at https://bit.ly/3oXiiSa.  This week, we will hold pool testing for all staff, athletes, in person extra-curricular, Preschool, Kindergarten, and High Needs students. During the week of March 8th, we plan on testing everyone who has given consent.  As we approach more in person learning, pooled testing is another mitigation strategy to help support our health and safety.  This past week, we began pooled testing with staff and athletes.  Below are some questions and answers that resulted from this first round of testing that you may find useful.​

• How do I know if my student is in a positive pool?
• If you do not hear from us after pooled testing, your student is negative. We will be contacting students who are in a positive pool for retesting. 
• How will we/our students be notified of a positive pool? positive retest?
• Students may be contacted via remind text or email. Parents will get an email to register with Project Beacon, the platform supporting antigen testing, if their child needs to be retested. Project Beacon will send out an immediate notification of test results once antigen testing is complete. 
• How and where will retesting occur?
• Due to timing and logistics, it made sense to do follow up testing after school/before practice in the field house this week. That may continue to be the case. However, depending on when we receive test results, there may be opportunities for students to have testing done in the health office before or during school. If the health office is busy or there is an emergency, students would continue be tested after school. 
• Does my student need to quarantine if they are in a positive pool?
• Not necessarily. So far athletes have been pooled in random groups by sport, so those in a pool are not all close contacts. Once a positive case is identified, close contacts are determined. (as a reminder, close contacts are those who are within 6 feet of each other for a period longer than 15 minutes over the course of 24 hours) As teams are formed, we will test by team, and If there are positive pools practice may be postponed until follow up testing can be completed. Because of the current distancing protocols at RMHS, most students in class with each other are not considered close contacts.

• COVID-19 Information-We continue to see a decline in positive cases with our staff and students.  Here is a breakdown of this week’s cases:
  • 2 Barrows students tested positive.  Both were remote so there were not any close contacts or quarantined.
  • 1 Parker student tested positive.  The student was remote, so there were not any close contacts or quarantined.
  • 1 Coolidge student tested positive.  The student was remote, so there were not any close contacts or quarantined.
  • 2 RMHS students tested positive.  Both were remote, so there were not any close contacts.

• RMHS Information-This past week at RMHS, the upper half of the alphabet was in person for Grades 9-12 and the lower half of the alphabet was remote.  Next week the lower half of the alphabet will be in person and the upper half will be remote.

• Fall 2 Sports Information-Fall 2 Sports began this past Monday with athletes participating in Cheer, Football, Volleyball, Indoor Track, and Girls Swimming.  All games and meets, except for Football, may begin on March 6^th, with football games being allowed to play on March 20^th.  Up to two spectators per athlete will be allowed to a competition.  More details will follow.

• SEPAC Reading Survey-The Reading SEPAC and Reading Public Schools are collaborating to provide presentations about how students learn to read. Please let us know what topics interest you by completing this survey link.

• Killam Family in Need- Over the February break, a family in the Killam community lost their home to a devastating house fire. As the family works to recover from this, they have asked to remain private but they are in need of assistance to support their immediate needs. The Friends of Reading METCO organization has started a GoFundMe page for monetary donations. Once the family is settled into a new home, these needs may change to home furnishings and other items, which will be shared out as needed.  If you would like to donate, the Go Fund Me page is https://www.gofundme.com/f/reading-metco 

Thanks for everything that you are doing to support our schools.  Have a great rest of the weekend and week ahead.

John Doherty

Superintendent

Reading Public Schools

82 Oakland Road

Reading, Massachusetts 01867

781-944-5800

John.doherty@reading.k12.ma.us