The largest school district in western Massachusetts is taking steps toward returning to in-person instruction.
Officials in Springfield have made clear they will not rush to reopen schools until the buildings are equipped to achieve an air filtration standard that exceeds what is recommended by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Superintendent of Schools Dan Warwick pushed back this week on state Education Commissioner Jeff Riley’s call for Springfield, Worcester, and Boston to resume in-person instruction for high-need special education students.
"Our high-need special ed students have the highest rates of pre-existing conditions, so we want to make sure our environment is safe for all before we bring anyone back in," said Warwick.
After voting in August to begin the school year fully remote for the district’s 26,000 students and 2,000 teachers, the Springfield School Commitee hired an industrial hygienist to evaluate each school building. Based on the consultant’s recommendations, the district plans to install air purifying equipment in the ventilation systems of 51 buildings, and put portable air scrubber machines in each classroom in four buildings constructed in the 1890s.
Pat Sullivan, the city’s director of parks and buildings estimated it will take about two months to finish retrofitting all the schools to achieve the high air filtration standard. He said he found it “unconscionable” that the state is pressuring Springfield to resume in-person instruction as new coronavirus cases are soaring.
"We will not reopen until we can ensure the health and safety of everyone involved," said Sullivan.
Even as COVID-19 case counts have surged again in Massachusetts, Gov. Charlie Baker has urged schools to have in-person instruction. He said fears that schools are super-spreaders of the virus are largely unfounded.
The Springfield School Committee will hold a virtual town hall on December 15th to get public feedback and then vote on a re-opening plan at a meeting on December 17th, according to Warwick.
" Last time we did a town hall, we had over 5,000 participate and we provided information and took feedback in six different languages," said Warwick. "So, we are planning that again."
With few public schools offering full-time in-person learning, enrollment is down in Massachusetts this year by almost 4 percent. Typically, there is little year-to-year change in total school enrollment in the state.
Springfield saw a year-over-year enrollment decline of 3 percent. Warwick said the loss of that many students – about 600 – has serious financial ramifications.
" For Springfield it would be over a $10 million cut in (state) funding if you look at the dollars per student," said Warwick.
While enrollment in traditional public schools is down, parochial, charter, vocational-technical and agricultural schools have reported enrollment increases
