AMHERST — Families of students who attend the Amherst, Pelham and Amherst-Pelham Regional public schools are up to date on how well ventilated classrooms are in the six district buildings should in-class learning resume, according to School Superintendent Michael Morris.
In a weekly newsletter sent to parents and guardians Dec. 11, Morris shared detailed information from Nexus Consulting LLC of Torrington, Connecticut, about the status of air quality in each classroom and other educational spaces.
The information was provided after the Amherst Pelham Education Association, the union representing teachers, paraprofessionals and clerical staff, expressed concern last week about renegotiating the terms of a memorandum of agreement for getting students and teachers back into school buildings.
Among the concerns highlighted by the Dec. 8 statement from the teachers union is whether school air-testing results have complied with American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers standards.
School Committee Chairwoman Allison McDonald wrote in an email to the Gazette that the Nexus Consulting report confirms that the district has a sufficient number of classrooms that are above four air changes per hour, enough to continue the phase-in model of the expected number of students who would be returning initially for in-person instruction.
The report also shows that two rooms didn’t meet the target airflow standard, but that these spaces would not be used during the phased return to school buildings. Those rooms included one room in the high school that needs more substantial work and is not planned for use, and one room at Crocker Farm, where despite work the air quality still fell short.
The question about air quality standards in school buildings was one of three key aspects of the union’s memorandum of understanding with the school administration that need to be resolved before the union considers negotiating changes to the deal, according to the union’s statement.
The other key issues are whether retesting will be done on spaces that previously failed to meet air standards and the status of plans to maintain six-foot distancing in school buildings. For her part, McDonald said that these 6-foot standards are already included in the return-to-school plan developed in August.
The union statement came in response to a letter signed by more than 150 parents and guardians that was sent directly to employees earlier in the week. The letter suggested that members put pressure on the union leadership to reopen negotiations.
So far, the union has declined or not responded to requests from the School Committee to reopen talks so that changes to the memorandum of agreement can be discussed, though not necessarily implemented.
A key part of the deal is the health metrics that provide for remote instruction when the region exceeds 28 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents, calculated based on a seven-day rolling average, in the Pioneer Valley, with an emphasis on Hampshire County. That prompted a pause to in-person learning in October.
“We are not calling for an immediate return to in-person schooling,” the parents’ letter read. “We are asking that you encourage your representatives at the APEA to return to the negotiation table with the School Committee to create metrics that would determine when schools can safely reopen based on scientific data now available but not currently reflected in the MOA.”
The letter cites three long-term problems remote learning is causing, including inequity and the most vulnerable falling behind their peers, reduced financial viability of the district as students leave for other schools, and the limitations of remote learning and students not getting the education they are entitled to.
McDonald told her colleagues at a meeting last week that she is also growing more worried about the welfare of students, observing the statistics about the high rate of absenteeism among students on free and reduced lunch and students of color being particularly troubling.
“It guts me to see us stymied in our attempts to address these concerns that become more urgent with each passing day and week,” McDonald said.
McDonald said if no renegotiation of the terms of the memorandum of agreement can happen, she may turn to a Plan B, which is asking Superintendent Michael Morris to develop a plan for returning to in-person classes unilaterally.
Some parents have previously asked that the memorandum of agreement be broken, but Morris has indicated he wouldn’t do this.McDonald said officials had hoped that the Joint Labor Management Safety Committee, which includes representatives of the School Committee, the teachers union and Public Health Director Emma Dragon, could take up a new agenda item last week titled “Effectiveness of 2020/2021 School Year MOA.”
But this wasn’t done, with School Committee representative Ben Herrington providing an update on facilities work happening throughout the district, such as ventilation units being installed in the high school gym and at the middle school swimming pool, and Dragon giving a general timeline for COVID-19 vaccine distribution.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.