SOUTH HADLEY — Students in South Hadley Public Schools are slated to begin a phased-in return to in-person learning on Feb. 22, after learning remotely since December.
Under the plan, which the School Committee approved in late January, high needs students at all grade levels will return to their buildings on Feb. 22. At the middle school and high school levels, students whose parents are essential workers or have other critical child care needs will also return on this date.
On March 1, all students in kindergarten and first grade will return to Plains Middle School, in addition to the children of essential workers cohort. The essential workers cohort also returns to Mosier Elementary School at this date, while students at the middle school and high school will begin hybrid learning.
The general student population at Plains and Mosier elementary schools will return on a hybrid basis on March 15.
All students in a high needs or children of essential workers cohort will learn in-person four days a week, with Wednesday set aside as a remote day to allow for cleaning the buildings, according to the school district’s plans.
The return schedule is based on the number of students who can be safely accommodated in each building at a time, according to School Committee Vice Chairwoman Allison Schlachter, rather than phasing in the grades in order. This allows the district to “get as many kids back in the building as fast as possible,” she said.
In an email, Superintendent Diana Bonneville wrote that the approved timeline remains contingent on COVID-19 metrics. Bonneville urged parents to keep their students home if they show “any symptoms that cannot be attributed to an alternate diagnosis,” or if anyone in their household tests positive for COVID-19.
At a School Committee meeting last Monday, several parents spoke during the public comment period to urge the return.
Bonneville said that “remote is going as well as it can be given that we’re in a pandemic,” but noted that social-emotional and engagement issues that students face are “absolutely getting to the breaking point now.”
School Committee members also noted that many students struggle with remote learning.
“The reality is that this is not working for a lot of our kids,” School Committee member Christine Phillips said.
“We are receiving letters from families every day that are literally at a breaking point,” she added, “and we have to listen to those as well.”
School Committee member Allyson Garcia said that the mental health difficulties kids face are “a second public health crisis,” and that balancing the needs of health and safety for students and teachers has created a situation with “no right answer.”
Scott Beaulieu, a teacher and president of the South Hadley Education Association, said that some teachers remain concerned about heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) requirements.
The HVAC system should be prepared by March 1 at the latest, according to Bonneville, and that if the ventilation systems are not ready by the time that high needs students start to return on Feb. 22, students and teachers will only be placed in buildings that meet regulations.
