Students statewide are returning to school amid a resurgent COVID-19 virus, and while much of the in-person learning experience will feel the same as it did last year, some area school districts are making adjustments to their procedures and safety protocols in response to new variants of the coronavirus.
As of Monday, Hampshire County has a “high” level of community transmission of COVID-19, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The only county in Massachusetts with a lower level is Franklin County, which is at “substantial.” About 62% of eligible people have been fully vaccinated against the virus in Hampshire County, according to the CDC.
Massachusetts Education Commissioner Jeffrey Riley issued statewide regulations last week that require students over age 5, staff and all visitors to wear masks when indoors at school at least until Oct. 1. Those who cannot wear a mask for medical or behavioral reasons are exempt.
If a school district can demonstrate a vaccination rate of at least 80% among eligible students and staff, then vaccinated people can go without masks after Oct. 1. Currently, only those 12 or older are eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
Amherst public schools are continuing many of the strategies deployed during the last school year.
Superintendent Michael Morris said outdoor learning spaces will be available; sanitation, handwashing and social distancing will be prioritized; and air handling in classrooms will be better than ever.
“We have improved the ventilation in the large group spaces that were not accessible last year,” Morris said.
Hatfield public schools don’t have designated outdoor learning spaces with tents, but with significant open space, teachers are encouraged to go outside when it can complement the lesson and the instruction, said Michael Wood, the interim superintendent. Getting outdoors will also allow students to have mask breaks.
Both the Smith Academy and Hatfield Elementary School buildings have been improved since the pandemic began.
“We updated our HVAC systems last year and will be using HEPA units for air filtration, but also are encouraging social distancing, sanitizing and handwashing,” Wood said.
Hadley Superintendent Anne McKenzie said Hadley schools will also promote hand hygiene in addition to following the state mask mandate. The HVAC systems in the buildings are also improved.
McKenzie said the district is strongly encouraging vaccinations of all who are eligible. Hopkins Academy will host a vaccine clinic on Sept. 17 with Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson vaccines available. A clinic was also held Aug. 27.
Pool testing will be offered, and weekly data, including vaccination rates, will be disseminated. McKenzie also compiles data from the CDC and the state public health department about COVID counts.
In South Hadley, students begin school Wednesday, and together with masking and social distancing guidelines, they will encounter several new realities created by the pandemic.
“The goal was to keep our students in person, and so with that, there’s a level of precaution we have to take,” said the district’s new superintendent, Jahmal Mosley.
The changes include lunchtime seating arrangements that will have students spaced out and facing away from each other. Students also will be outdoors more often than usual, including the occasional use of outdoor classrooms.
“I’m constantly scouring the different school districts for ways they’re being creative to give kids a break from masking,” Mosley said, “but also breaks to feel normal again.”
South Hadley is holding its Independence Day fireworks show on Sept. 4 at the middle school, where a free vaccination clinic will be held. The day’s festivities run from 1 to 9 p.m.
Careful work has gone into preparing safety precautions in the district, but Mosley said that everything is fluid based on the coronavirus realities in the district. As cases go up or down, policies and practices are likely to change.
“We will adjust, adapt,” he said. “We may hiccup, but we will keep on breathing and getting through this.”
The state’s mask mandate applies indoors and on buses, but the Northampton Board of Health issued a broader mask mandate for the city last week that applies to outdoor event venues where 6 feet of social distancing is not possible, and to common seating areas, including dugouts, at sporting events.
In addition to these mandates, Northampton students, staff and visitors will be asked to socially distance to the maximum extent possible when indoors. Students can eat lunch under outdoor tents, at least until October, as they did during in-person learning last school year.
In an Aug. 6 letter to the school community, Superintendent John Provost said “new variants of the virus present health challenges we must consider (and) we may shift to a lesser or more protective stance” depending on the risk of spreading the virus.
Last year, Provost said, there were “zero” COVID-19 infections traced back to exposure at a Northampton school.
