MONTAGUE — Hybrid classes in the Gill-Montague Regional School District could be available for the general student population as early as Feb. 1, according to a tentative timeline set by the district’s administration.
This would be the first time since the beginning of the pandemic that in-person classes would be available for the general student population. In-person classes were offered for a few weeks in the fall for small groups of high-priority students, but the district backtracked when someone connected to the district was diagnosed with COVID-19.
After Thanksgiving, as local rates of COVID-19 spiked, the district opted not to consider in-person classes until at least January. That was later extended to at least Jan. 15, as Montague was still rated as a “red zone” by the state Department of Public Health, the most severe level of a COVID-19 outbreak in Massachusetts’ rating system.
Gill-Montague’s new effort to move to in-person classes was informed by the latest figures from the state, released on Thursday, in which Montague most recently had 28 cases of COVID-19 in the previous two-week period.
Gill-Montague Superintendent Brian Beck said in an email to district families that the latest numbers represent a stabilized situation, rather than a worsening one.
Progress toward in-person classes will also be influenced by the next report from the state Department of Public Health, which will be released Jan. 14, Beck wrote.
“The continued status of Montague as a ‘higher-risk’ municipality means that we will propose a timeline for return to on-campus learning that will allow time for Montague to see a decrease in DPH risk designation,” he wrote.
The current timeline for starting in-person classes is for high-priority student groups to be on campus starting Jan. 25, and the rest of the general population to be in a hybrid model starting Feb. 1. However, Beck added, the dates are tentative.
Reach Max Marcus at mmarcus@recorder.com or 413-930-4231.