Boston taking schools all-remote starting Thursday

Colin A. Young

All Boston public school students will learn remotely starting Thursday as the COVID-19 infection rate continues its climb in the city, the mayor and school system announced Wednesday morning. Boston’s seven-day average COVID-19 positive test rate is 5.7 percent, up from last week’s rate of 4.5 percent and a rate of 4.1 percent the week prior, the city said. All Boston students will remain in remote learning mode until the city posts at least two weeks of failing COVID-19 infection rates.

“I am heartbroken that today we have to close our doors to our highest need students. Our families are desperate for these services for their children, many of whom are non-verbal and unable to use technology in the home. We will work with the Boston Teachers Union and remain committed to providing in-person learning opportunities to our students as we are able, as we continue to prioritize our students with the highest needs for in-person learning,” BPS Superintendent Dr. Brenda Cassellius said. “I look forward to the broader Boston community doing its part in complying with the public health guidance and helping us bring this infection rate down so we can open our doors. We need your help. Our children are depending on all of us.”

Some high-needs students in Boston have already been in classrooms two days each week and Thursday had been the target date for BPS to have pre-K and kindergarteners start in-person school with first through third graders. The city said students with the highest needs will have the option to return to a physical classroom “once the citywide seven-day COVID-19 positivity rate is at 5% or below for two consecutive weeks.” If the rate drops to 4 percent or below for two consecutive weeks, BPS said it will restart its phased-in resumption of in-person learning.

On Tuesday, Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Jeff Riley credited teachers and administrators for doing a “good job” with COVID-19 safety measures and said that the concerns that schools would become hubs of coronavirus activity have not played out in reality. “I think we also really need to think about the fact that we have not seen robust transmission in our schools,” Riley said. “And what I mean by that is we’ve had schools open now for five or six weeks and what we’re seeing is, yes there have been cases, but they’ve been for the most part identified, isolated — people have got close contacts — and the educational programming has been able to continue. I think what we’re seeing both across the country and the state is that the fear that schools were going to be seen as super-spreading places has been somewhat unfounded.”