GREENFIELD — The president of the Greenfield School Department’s teachers’ union says staff and families are still waiting for a reopening plan from administrators.
According to Paul DeMarco, a field representative with the Massachusetts Teachers Association in Holyoke, despite attempts by the Greenfield Education Association to negotiate an agreement with the School Committee for the April 5 return to full in-person learning for elementary students, educators said the district remains unprepared.
“We’re 100 percent focused on a safe return to school for our kids, so it’s incredibly disappointing that the School Committee still has no plan, not even a draft plan,” Greenfield Education Association President Ann Valentine said. “They sent us an email claiming that ‘site-based teams with teacher participation’ are doing the planning, but we checked with our members and very few have even heard of this, and almost no classroom teachers were even asked to participate in the process.”
Valentine said a few of the issues and concerns the union has include the teachers’ schedules.
“We do not know if our present remote schedule will or can remain in place,” she said. “We’d like an idea of how we teachers will be teaching students in person as well as at home at the same time? Can our schools’ infrastructure accommodate the use of so many Chromebooks all at the same time?”
Valentine said teachers would also like to know what lunch and recess will look like, and how special classes like art and music will look.
“What will mask breaks look like, when will they happen and where will they happen?” she asked. “What will drop-off and pickup look like and how will it happen?
“This would be a great place to start,” she continued. “There are many other questions teachers, as well as families, have had, and we hope to be able to bring up and discuss sooner rather than later.”
The Greenfield Education Association and School Committee agreed during a mediation session to meet on March 15 to restart contract negotiations, specifically to address the April 5 return date set by the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). The teachers’ union asked the School Committee for a draft plan in advance of that date, and on March 12 the committee informed educators that no plan for a return to in-person learning existed. At the March 15 meeting, the committee still had no plan to share.
“The staff and families are anxiously waiting for a reopening plan,” Valentine said.
Interim Superintendent Judith Houle reported during the School Committee’s March 10 meeting that kindergartners and first- through fourth-graders will return to in-person learning on April 5, while fifth-graders and middle-schoolers will follow shortly after on April 28.
Houle presented the plan to the School Committee, saying she’ll know better by the end of April when high school students might return.
“Parents can choose to keep their children home for remote learning until the end of the year, but that won’t be an option in the fall,” she said.
So far, Houle said, high-needs students have returned to in-person learning and that has gone well.
Currently, and when all students and staff return, everyone will be required to wear a mask, wash and sanitize their hands regularly, practice social distancing and stay home if they feel ill.
The county’s health officials began vaccinating educators and school staff members last week, so most should have both shots by sometime in late April or in May. The district is also evaluating classroom configurations to make sure there is plenty of distance between students and between teachers and students.
The Greenfield School Department will also install air purifiers and check its heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems. Grab-and-go meals will be served — details are currently being worked out concerning where students will eat.
Cleaning protocols are being put in place, Houle said, and pooled COVID-19 testing will be set up. Everyone will be tested once a week, and there will be a couple of days a week when that testing will happen.
“We’re also making plans for transportation,” Houle said. “Buses can now run at full capacity, but everyone will have to wear a mask, there will be assigned seating and windows will have to remain open, so for the first few weeks students should dress in warm clothes.”
She said administrators will ask that students and staff practice COVID-19 safety outside of school as well, to prevent any outbreaks. It’s possible that as temperatures rise and the weather gets better, schools will use outdoor space as much as possible.
A special School Committee virtual meeting has been scheduled for Thursday at 6 p.m. An update on the return to in-person learning is on the agenda.
School Committee Chair Amy Proietti said she has no comment about contract negotiations or the union’s complaint at this time.
Valentine said teachers are planners by nature.
“We want things to be ready for the return of our students,” she said. “April 5 is right around the corner, and we want to be able to answer questions our students and families have. We would like to be as prepared as possible and plan for the changes.”
Reach Anita Fritz at 413-772-9591 or afritz@recorder.com.