Back-to-school Plans Take Shape: Patch Week In Review

It hasn’t been a fun summer for superintendents and school committees across Massachusetts, as they try to develop school reopening plans that balance safety from the coronavirus, meeting learning outcomes and addressing parent concerns ranging from childcare to remote learning requirements.

The obstacles have also included fuzzy guidance from state and federal regulators, pressure from teachers’ unions and parents’ all-too-fresh memories of the abrupt school shutdown in March, when they had to juggle working from home with making sure their kids were logging in for remote lessons. There’s also the tens f thousands of dollars they will need to spend on personal protective, cleaning and HVAC equipment.

With Monday’s deadline for school districts to decide how they will reopen schools this fall, most area school board were meeting this week to finalize those plans. No North Shore school district is planning a full reopening of schools, but several have adopted hybrid models where at least some kids will attend school in person part of the time.

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