BOSTON — Public and private schools across the state will remain closed for the remainder of the academic year, Gov. Charlie Baker announced in a COVID-19 update Tuesday.
“It’s the right thing to do considering the facts on the ground,” said the governor, who previously ordered schools closed until May 4.
COVID-19 cases are surging in the state, Baker said. “Right now, the commonwealth is still in the surge,” he said. “The data shows we’re still very much in the grips of a pandemic here in Massachusetts.”
Remote learning will continue, Baker said Tuesday. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is “taking additional steps to boost remote learning for the rest of the school year,” he said.
In addition, non-emergency child care programs will be closed until June 29, Baker said Tuesday.
The announcement came after other states, including Vermont, Indiana and Pennsylvania, announced schools would remain closed this academic year, and the Massachusetts Teachers Association said in a statement that public school buildings should remain closed through the school year.
MTA president Merrie Najimy applauded the governor’s decision in a statement reacting to the announcement — but said that remote learning needs careful evaluation.
“We also need to work together to figure out how to provide extra support for high-need students and how to prepare for the significant social, emotional and academic needs we expect to see among our students when schools reopen in the fall,” Najimy said.
The news was not a surprise for some Valley school districts.
“It wasn’t unexpected,” said Stephen Zrike, the superintendent and receiver of Holyoke Public Schools. “So in some ways, it’s the finality of knowing.”
It is still sad, he said. “There’s a sadness to it and a practical reality — we know this is not good for our kids academically.”
Remote learning, he said, “even in the best of situations is not real classroom teaching and learning. It’s not as effective or impactful.”
The district is planning to expand its offerings for summer school, which usually draws about 20% of the district’s students, Zrike said.
“We think parents are going to want to send their kids (to school) as soon as possible,” he said, “although it’s hard to gauge how nervous parents will be. It’s easy to say, ‘oh yeah they’re tired of homeschooling’ … I also know there’s some anxiety about returning to larger groups.”
Events for Holyoke seniors, such as prom and graduation, will be rescheduled — potentially for a weekend in late summer, or, if that’s not possible, a time close to Thanksgiving when many students are at home, Zrike said.
“Significant moments in a person’s life — I just don’t think it does justice to have them remotely,” he said.
Some concern about re-opening schools had been growing in Amherst, said Michael Morris, superintendent of Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools.
“Given the data that we have, it seems like a well reasoned idea to make sure things are safe before we return to school,” he said.
Some may think that kids are excited to not have in-person school. But, Morris said, “that’s not really what we’re hearing. Kids are missing their friends, missing their teachers … missing the structure of school.”
On Friday, school counselors from the district will speak at a live-streamed event about student mental health.
“This is a really hard situation for everyone — for families, for staff, who are also taking care of kids, parents, and family members,” Morris said.
John Provost, Northampton Public Schools superintendent, agreed.
“I know that it’s very hard for our families to manage the many stresses they have now. Many of them are working from home themselves and also trying to manage their students’ learning from home at the same time,” he said.
He also noted that “many of our educators, both administrator and teachers, and ESPs [educational support professionals], also have children of their own at home. ”
The governor’s decision was sound, Provost said.
Though it’s a difficult situation, “this is a time for us to stay strong, to stay connected as a learning community, and … we will get through this together.”
The district’s remote learning plan is in line with state standards, said a statement from Provost and Northampton Association of School Employees President Sadie Cora.
“Educators in Northampton have been working extended hours to provide academic routines, with empathy for varying challenges faced by students and their families during this unprecedented crisis,” the statement said.
Provost said he is talking with seniors about how to hold graduation. “It may a matter of delaying graduation,” he said. “It might be a matter of doing graduation in another format.”
The start of next school year will likely not look like it usually does, Morris and Zrike both said.
Staggering schedules, wearing masks, or taking people’s temperature may be necessary public health precautions for schools, Zrike said.
“It sounds hard to believe,” he said, but, “I think we’re going to have to put in some provisions and guidelines to protect our kids and our staff.”