GREENFIELD — All students — preschool to high school — will be back to in-person learning by April 28, the interim superintendent of schools announced this week.
The School Committee held a special virtual meeting Thursday night to hear the details of the reopening plan.
Interim Superintendent Judith Houle said preschoolers through fourth-graders will be back in school, unless their parents or guardians choose to keep them remote, on April 5, while fifth-graders through high schoolers will return April 28, pending a waiver from the state, which Houle said she believes will be given the school system. The waiver is to allow fifth-graders to be grouped with the older students instead of the younger ones.
She said there are specific plans for drop-off and pickup, but as of now, there will be no dropping off before start time and there are no current plans for before- or after-school care.
“You can see we’ve been working on a plan,” Mayor Roxann Wedegartner, who is a member of the School Committee, said.
Wedegartner said the committee and school administration should consider ways to provide before- and after-school care. She said there have been and will continue to be ongoing behind-the-scenes communications going on to make things happen.
“You might not see it, but it’s happening,” she said.
Wedegartner said she will reach out to the Recreation Department about possible after school care for some, while Houle said the district should be checking with the YMCA and other agencies and organizations that provide such care.
The Academy of Early Learning will offer half- and full-day sessions and will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 2:55 p.m. The Discovery School at Four Corners, Federal Street School and Newton School will all be open from 8:30 a.m. to 2:55 p.m. and all students will go directly to their classrooms at drop-off.
Greenfield Middle School will be open from 7:40 a.m. to 2:20 p.m. and students will go directly to designated areas in the morning, while the high school will be open from 7:15 a.m. to 2:10 p.m. and will do the same.
All staff, teachers and students will be required to wear a mask throughout the day, wash their hands regularly, practice social distancing and stay home if they don’t feel well.
Desks and tables will be required to be 3 feet apart, while students, staff and teachers will be required to keep a 6-foot distance, Houle said.
“Pooled testing will begin soon,” Houle said. “We’ll test groups of students and staff and the samples will be tested together. If there’s a positive, we’ll test everyone in that group individually and do the proper contact tracing.”
She said air purifiers are being installed in classrooms and transportation protocols will include masking, assigned seats, open windows and regular cleanings.
Meals will be grab-and-go to ensure safety. She said by the time schools reopen, each will have decided where children will eat.
“We’d like to see families take personal responsibility outside of school, as well,” Houle said. “It will be the key to success and will include following guidelines outside of school, considering travel and taking personal precautions.”
Houle said the school district will provide regular updates on progress, public forums beginning the week of March 22, virtual tours that are being filmed this week and will be available next week, and administrators will be working with faculty and staff to identify challenges and find solutions.
“Administration and staff have worked diligently over the past two and a half weeks to iron out these details,” Houle said. “Kuzmeskus (transportation) has been extremely collaborative in accommodating scheduling needs. I’m grateful for the team and the continued commitment to bringing our students and staff back to a welcoming and safe environment.”
Houle said there are still details to be worked out about what will happen with students whose families decide to keep them remote.
“We’ll have to see what that number is and how exactly it will work, whether they’ll join their classes or certain teachers will be responsible for remote students at certain times,” she said.
Houle’s presentation, along with support materials, can be found at bit.ly/38ZdNRT.
Reach Recorder reporter Anita Fritz at 413-772-9591 or afritz@recorder.com.