Sisters and Brothers,
First, I hope that each of you had a restful Thanksgiving weekend with your families. Second, I apologize for the time and length of this email, but there’s much I need to share.
From November 8th to the 21st the average daily incidence rate was 44 per 100,000 residents and the percent positivity rate reached 5.45%. Today’s update, which covers the 15th to the 28th, saw those numbers climb to 58.3 and 7.21%, respectively. These numbers from the testing period immediately preceding and including Thanksgiving – when many were likely getting tested to determine if they’d be a risk to others if they gathered for the holiday – mean we haven’t even seen the cases that actually sprung from these encounters. If you’ve followed Mayor Fiorentini’s daily social media updates, there’s little doubt that next week’s report will be more dire as people began to test positive or develop symptoms caused by those holiday plans will just start to be included in the data. At this time, 8 Haverhill Public Schools students and 16 staff members are quarantined as close contacts, with 1 student and 1 staff member considered active positive cases.
Based on the increasing spread of the coronavirus in the community, it seems abundantly clear that the School Committee made the right decision in moving the district to remote learning this week. The Committee also decided that next week, the vast majority of students will continue to learn remotely, with Cohort C students and their educators returning to the classroom. While the School Committee is not meeting this week to consider any changes, the Joint Stakeholder Coronavirus Response Team did spend a significant amount of time discussing what could be done to mitigate the risks for staff and students while also providing a safe working and learning environment for all during this time.
After reviewing the facts, Dr. Marotta determined, without objection from the team which includes parents, administration, school nurses and medical professionals as well as School Committee Member Gail Sullivan, that the Cohort C students at Haverhill High School will continue to work remotely at least for another week from November 7th to 11th. This is not only because high school-aged children are more like adults with regard to their ability to carry and spread the virus, but moreso due to the extreme inconsistencies in maintaining safe and comfortable temperatures and adequate airflow as repairs continue to be made to the HVAC systems there.
Unfortunately, because the School Committee does not meet again until next Thursday, the rest of district will continue, as directed, with the plan to open the buildings to Cohort C students. Educators on the team spoke passionately on behalf of the many members who have reached out to the Executive Committee and us to express your concerns about this issue. We understand that it seems unfair to many that some educators will continue to work remotely while others have been told they’ll be required to report to the buildings. On the one hand, when we began to bargain over the reopening of school, the Association’s position was that a phased-in approach was safest. This always meant that some educators would inevitably return to the buildings before others as the JSCRT monitored the data to recommend if and when to bring more students (and educators) back to the buildings or return to remote learning (and we never wanted RLA teachers to be required to be on-site). On the other hand, it makes absolutely no sense to require, for example, 60 Consentino educators to report to the building to care for about 20 students, nor is it reasonable to make a person commute to a full day in the building because one student in one period on their schedule happens to be a Cohort C student (or, as at the elementary level, to spend all day alone in a room with just one student while all his/her classmates work from home).
We also know that not all Cohort C students share the same needs or have difficulty learning remotely. While some have severe needs that can might only be serviceable in person, and others, tragically, are homeless and have no other place from which to effectively learn, some joined Cohort C because there were seats available and many are the children of our fellow educators. At the HEA’s request, the administration surveyed all Cohort C parents to find out how many intended to send their children to school next week given the current public health realities. While many indicated they would opt to keep their students home, a significant number indicated that they would send their students to school. If you have enrolled your student as a Cohort C student for childcare purposes this year, and if it’s at all possible to have your student work remotely next week, you would be doing your union siblings a service by helping to reduce the numbers expected in the buildings.
Given that there must be educators available for those students who will come to school next week, our next best option was to find a way to staff the buildings fairly. Dr. Marotta agreed to instruct principals to work collaborately with educators to devise an effective solution for each building. I shared that I have no doubt that if principals agree to consolidate students into small groups, where possible, there’d be enough educators at each building who feel comfortable enough to volunteer for to supervise them on a rotating basis and help ease the burden on our Union siblings. In the case of Consentino above, theoretically, a dozen or so educators volunteering for one day in person each could relieve the remaining 50 educators (and themselves) of having to work in person all four days. What works best for your building will vary, but I encourage you to engage your administration in a conversation about what is necessary. If there aren’t enough people who feel comfortable volunteering to work in the building to meet the needs of school, principals will be forced to assign people to those duties, but should still work with staff to do so using a rotating coverage schedule.
Next week, the JSCRT will meet again and discuss our next recommendation to the School Committee, including how soon to return to the hybrid model following the upcoming holiday recess. With the trend we have been seeing, and our expectation of another significant increase in our positivity numbers, I and the other HEA representatives on the team will continue to advocate for our educators, students and community.
In Solidarity,
Anthony
Anthony J. Parolisi
President
Haverhill Eduation Association