MONTAGUE — Hybrid classes in the Gill-Montague Regional School District have been delayed from the original target date of Feb. 4 until Feb. 22, due to unexpected issues with staffing and delays in paperwork related to the schools’ ventilation systems.
Gill-Montague has been in an entirely remote model since the pandemic began last March. Through the fall and winter, the district has aimed to move students to hybrid classes, but has been slowed by concerns about ventilation in the schools, preparation of staff for the new protocols and, as the winter wore on, a worsening public health situation.
The target date of Feb. 4 had been set by Superintendent Brian Beck in January, as an audit of the ventilation systems and the staffing issues both were on track to being resolved. Local rates of COVID-19, while still worse than at the beginning of the fall, have been declining slowly since the spike earlier in the winter.
That date was pushed back this week to Feb. 22, as Beck notified district families in an email Tuesday night.
He cited unexpected issues with staffing and a delay in the final certification of the ventilation systems, and emphasized that the district has been committed to transparency in the process of reopening.
“I recognize that this is a continued inconvenience to families, and we desperately want our students on campus,” Beck said. “However, these criteria have been built by our community, and we have adhered to them consistently to ensure that we are doing everything possible to significantly reduce the likelihood of transmission of the virus at schools.”
The staffing issues, specifically, have to do with unexpected medical leaves of absence, and some staff members who have had to quarantine. There are also some positions that were expected to have been filled but have not been, Beck explained.
The ventilation issues have to do with an audit of the schools’ ventilation systems that was conducted mostly in the fall. The final report on the audit, which Beck had said he would make available to the public, was delayed by a few days. Beck said it is expected to be delivered to the schools later this week, but even that would be past the original target date of Feb. 4.
“I will not go back on that assurance to the community to be transparent about that progress,” Beck said.
Reach Max Marcus at
mmarcus@recorder.com or 413-930-4231.