HomeMy WebLinkAboutSchool Comm. 03/30/2021approved 04-13-21
Mansfield School Committee RECEIVED
Return to Learning Subcommittee TOWN' C1.-ERKS OFFICE
Minutes for March 30, 2021 ZQZI HAY 12 p I, 52
A meeting of the Mansfield School Committee Return to Learning subcommittee w1ARMFgTPtcalled to order
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Attendees: Lauren Scher, Linda Fernando, Teresa Murphy, Michael Connelly, Christine Dealing
Approval of Minutes
March 9, 2021 — approved (2-0)
New Business
• Transition to in -person learning
o All schools have had their parent night events about return to full in -person learning. All had the
same direction and content. Last night was high school. A common question that came up
throughout was about the travel advisory.
o Kindergarten continues to move along well and without incident.
o Grades 1-8 will be ready for the April 5 date. They are working out every detail they need to in order
to move into full in person. Now that the everyone is used to the sparse classrooms, it will be
noticeable when the furniture comes back.
o MHS—The plan is to return to full in person on April 28.
• The commissioner is still considering high school return to school and MCAS. It may be that
he may not bring high school back this spring. There are concerns expressed about bringing
seniors back to high school. There are a lot of high schools that are already back to in
person. We need to consider what is in everyone's best interest. We will continue to look
for guidance from the commissioner re: Seniors as well as MCAS administration. As of now,
it seems like MCAS testing will proceed.
o There has been an increase in quarantines and cases right now across the community, but we are
not seeing in -school transmission.
o Pooled testing
• The commissioner is now offering to pay for pooled testing for the remainder of the school
year.
• Is it possible or beneficial doing this for a short period of time, for example, following
vacation week?
• Christine: if we move to pooled testing it would be for the remainder of the school year.
Parents/guardians would have to sign up for their students to give consent and we would
need to send out information very quickly. Consent comes in very slowly, although
electronic consent is an option. It is possible to test by school and not necessarily the whole
district. Teachers would have to manage the collection of swabs from the classroom. Nurses
collect from the classrooms. Currently, there isn't a plan for pooled testing.
o Travel advisory.
• Now that the state has switched from a travel order to a travel advisory, the district needs
to determine whether we will change our requirements. Schools are allowed to have stricter
requirements than the state. It is in our right to say to employees that they can't come back
from travel without a test, and similarly for students. Justin is setting up a limited testing
approved 04-13-21
site at the fire station. Since COVID cases and new variants are on the rise, it seems like
maintaining the travel requirements is prudent.
Families will need to comply with the travel advisory. They are still determining which tests
would be acceptable (in particular, whether rapid antigen or rapid molecular tests would be
acceptable in addition to PCR tests). Christine will discuss with Justin and Amy later today.
Mobile unit could be utilized (but that may cost around 40/test).
• A newsletter will be sent out from Christine re: Travel Advisory to
parents/guardians.
• Christine will survey staff to get information on how many have received the
vaccine.
Other - Any items not anticipated by the Chairperson 48 Hours prior to this meeting.
On April 2nd, there likely will be a large number of staff absent. Many requests are still coming in. There is a
shortage substitutes. It would be harder to combine classes this year due to COVID restrictions. Moving to
remote/asynchronous would not be an option due to student learning time requirements, plus teachers
need to focus on April 5 opening. As of now, the goal is to keep April 2 as a regular day and cover all classes
with subs and administrators filling in. But a final decision on this will be made soon. The alternative would
be to call it a day of no school and the extra date would need to be made on Monday, June 21.
Meeting adjourned: 9:17
Next meeting: