PEABODY — It may have taken more than three hours, but after a spirited and lively debate among committee members, parents and teachers, the School Committee voted 4-3 to start the school year with a hybrid learning model in all schools.
Superintendent of Schools Dr. Josh Vadala had presented a revised reopening plan to the committee that recommended a full remote model for the high school.
But, with the vote deadlocked at 3-3, Mayor and School Committee Chairman Ted Bettencourt cast the deciding vote to reject the superintendent’s recommendation as it pertained to the high school.
“I tried to weigh decisions not only as a mayor and school committee chairman but as a parent with four children, three of them in the schools (one at the high school). It gives me comfort that people can opt out and go remote under a hybrid plan,” he said. “Ultimately I would like to try to give our students a chance and go with a hybrid. I think adolescents need to be around other adolescents and that we have to give the opportunity for students to to develop bonds with their teachers and other students, and that’s obviously very, very difficult to do that in a hybrid format.”
Committee members Beverley Griffin Dunne, Joseph Amico and Andrew Arnotis were particularly vehement in their opposition to in-school learning, voting against the hybrid plan.
“I am concerned about safety. We are in yellow right now (on the state’s risk map) and surrounded by communities already in red, Lynn, Salem, Saugus and Everett and Revere,” Arnotis said. “I am concerned we will get to the red level and be forced to go remote on a dime. Can we say tonight we are ready to open up our buildings to hundreds and thousands of people? We need to be cautious.”
He also cited child care concerns.
“That leaves a giant question no matter what option we take, but if we start hybrid and then go to remote on a day’s notice, how do parents get child care the next day? I won’t vote for a plan that will pull the rug out from under people.”
Dunne said she was stunned to learn that the number of children in Peabody with the virus is now 66.
“We are not ready to provide a safe environment for learning if everyone goes back into the buildings,” she said. “We don’t know what the long term aftereffects of the virus are, particularly in children.”
During public participation, several attendees expressed their concerns over in-person learning.
Teacher and parent Vicky Waite asked questions about teachers taking leaves under the Family Medical Leave Act and the impact it has on pensions, medical insurance and retirement decisions, asking, “will I still have a teaching position when I come back?”
Peabody Federation of Teachers President Mary Henry said while “educators want nothing more than to be in the classroom, at this point they believe there are too many unanswered questions to immediately implement the hybrid plan,”adding she has concerns about adequate heating and cooling systems, whether the district has enough PPE (personal protective equipment) and whether the virus will spread to students and staff alike despite the best efforts to prevent it. She also said she believes remote learning will give students more time with teachers and paraprofessionals
Vadala said the district has already purchased enough PPE for 12 weeks (based on 100 percent of students in schools) which will last sufficient for 24 weeks under a hybrid plan with only 50 percent of students.
“This is an incredibly complex situation with a lot of moving parts. Everyone I have talked to is conflicted, Vadala said. “They want to bring students back,but they are worried about bringing students back. I am feeling both sides. I am feeling extremely conflicted and think that in that in order to meet the needs of all of our students, we cannot have a one-size-fits-all.”
Vadala said a key factor in his recommendation that Peabody High be limited to remote learning only was Peabody’s designation as a yellow community under the new color-coded risk level metric implemented by the state. Yellow communities may adopt only hybrid or remote models.
“We will continue to closely monitor the data within our community and make decisions about the most appropriate learning model to implement,” Vadala stated during the presentation. “Decisions will be made based on the community rating over a 14-day period and shared with the public,” adding that new data is expected to be released on Sept. 2 and Sept. 9.
Anne Marie Tobin can be reached at [email protected].