Members of the School Committee on Tuesday established some parameters in anticipation of their initial discussion next Tuesday of the proposed budget for fiscal 2022.
Julie Kirrane, the school district’s finance director, said the document will feature several scenarios because of the uncertainty about the degree of the future impact of the pandemic.
Regarding the hybrid learning format prevalent this academic year, committee member Ann Guay declared, “None of us wants to continue this model in the fall. However, it is necessary for us to plan for the possibility of it. This is just being prudent.”
“Six feet are not going to be changing,” asserted committee Chair Dan Brosgol about the federal physical distancing standard. “We are not going to relax our safety standards, which were negotiated in good faith with our teachers.”
The committee, he said, needs to address the question, “How do we teach six feet safely with as many kids as possible?” This applies not only to next fall but also the coming spring, he noted. Budget deliberations will require information on testing and vaccines, Brosgol said. “We can work together to solve the problems here.”
He repeated his personal default position: in-person school for all of the elementary grades in the fall. “We all hope for a full return,” he stated.
Kirrane said committee members should prepare to address a budget that is malleable “until everybody gets back into the schools.” Superintendent of Schools Philip Conrad concurred. “We are doing this blind, unlike any other year, because of the unknown in terms of where the virus will go. We are going to try to make a budget knowing that we have to be flexible.”
Also at the meeting, Conrad delineated his professional goals for the remainder of the year, including overall district improvement, student learning, and personal professional practice.
“I didn’t have a goal in for dealing with Covid. Most goals are attainable in a normal year,” he said, adding, “Maybe I will be scaling back some of these to add a goal of overseeing Covid response.” The goal he outlined were:
- Support effective instructional practices by observing classrooms and otherwise being in the buildings, “to see how teachers involve and engage students.” He hopes to “gain a real sense of teaching and learning. I really enjoy those visits.”
- Promote the literacy plan “and make sure we work the plan into all of the action areas for all four of our schools.”
- “Continue to support students and families from our diverse communities, with a lens toward equity. We have an opportunity to really have a meaningful dialogue about racial equity and the foundational elements of our country that have relied on the abuse of race.
- Continue to participate in the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents’ induction program for new superintendents.
Committee Chair Dan Brosgol asked the superintendent to reflect on what changes induced by the pandemic that may remain after the crisis. Conrad replied that “we already planted that seed.”
Mike Rosenberg can be reached at [email protected], or 781-983-1763
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