As Massachusetts school districts submit their fall re-opening plans to the State Department of Secondary and Elementary Education, a slight uptick in the number of coronavirus cases in some communities has caused several communities to forgo in person instruction for the start of the school year.
But with the release of new state data, even more districts may be joining them.
Gov. Charlie Baker released a color-coded map earlier this week that identifies the state’s high-risk communities in the color red and moderate-risk communities in yellow. Red communities have eight cases per 100,000 residents, while yellow ones have between four to eight per 100,000.
Seven communities moved into the high-risk category in an updated map of COVID-19 case rates on Wednesday.
Salem Public Schools are now shifting to primarily remote learning after the city flipped from yellow to red on Wednesday. The school committee had previously approved a plan to bring pre-K through third-grade students back for in-person instruction, while most older students would study remotely.
“We had put in some contingencies that we would look to be primarily remote if we felt like the disease spread was such that it would make sense for us to have students be primarily remote — so that's where we are right now,” said Salem Superintendent Stephen Zrike.
It was a similar story in Lawrence and Saugus, which both also moved into the high-risk category on Wednesday.
The Lawrence Alliance for Education voted Wednesday evening for a fully remote start to the year. Had Lawrence still been yellow at the time, the board likely would have chosen a hybrid model, according to the mayor’s chief of staff.
The Saugus School Committee will also be meeting to reconsider its plans for a hybrid model. The committee had initially planned to split students into two cohorts with each attending class two days a week.
“Now that we're in the red, we’ve got to seriously consider some different options,” Saugus School Committee Chairman Tom Whittredge said.
The school committee for Hull, which also moved into the high-risk category Wednesday, is still planning to move forward with the hybrid model it approved on Aug. 5.
Hull’s situation is unique, according to committee chair Jennifer Fleming, who said that the town’s large school buildings will be able to accommodate students safely.
But the Hull School Committee will continue monitoring health metrics, meeting with the superintendent, and consulting the local board of health and the state to determine if it needs to change course before school starts on Sept. 16.
“We're prepared to be flexible to implement a plan at the start of school that's appropriate for the then-data,” Fleming said.
In Salem, Zrike said the data showing the city was in the high risk category forced the community to embrace a different plan.
“We knew we would have to pivot and adjust," he said. "I think everybody understood that and was supportive of that.”
