Special Alert
DESE Released Draft Guidelines for Fall
June 25, 2020
Dear School Families,
Today, Governor Charlie Baker and State Education Commissioner Jeff Riley announced that schools will open on schedule in Fall 2020.
As part of that announcement, they released draft guidelines for parents and schools. The most important elements of these guidelines are rules about how schools and parents should handle the public health issues raised by the COVID-19 virus.
We thank Governor Baker and Commissioner Riley for listening carefully to concerns voiced by parents and educators as they developed these draft guidelines. These guidelines are much more practical than we feared initially.
First, all children in grades two and higher will be required to wear face masks or coverings. Exceptions will be allowed for children with health issues. We were concerned about this requirement being applied to younger children; thankfully they are exempt from this mandate. Parents are expected to send their children to schools with the masks.
Second, the state decided NOT to set a maximum limit for the number of students in each classroom. Previously, we expected a maximum of 10 students per classroom, which would have been very hard to implement in most schools.
Third, the state is requiring students to be seated at least three feet away from each other during class time. This is the standard put forth by the World Health Organization (WHO). This is less restrictive than the 6 feet minimum mandate we were expecting.
Fourth, the state urges schools to minimize the mixing of students in one classroom with students from other classrooms. This is meant to avoid cross-contamination. Reasonably, the guidelines recognize that this will not always be possible in middle-school and high-school grades where students often get separated in different cohorts for instruction in math, science, AP courses and many electives. We appreciate the common-sense approach the state seems to be taking.
Fifth, all schools are urged to develop capacity to livestream instruction so that any student who is not able to be in school for health or space reasons can watch live instruction at home.
If you have any questions about how these guidelines will be implemented in the Catholic school your child attends, please contact your school principal.
If you simply don't like some aspect of the draft guidelines, these are draft guidelines. The final guidelines are expected later in the summer. We can make sure your concerns are heard before final guidelines are issued.
We want to be your partner in figuring out how best to make sure your children remain safe but continue to receive the high-quality education they deserve.
In Christ,
Tom Carroll
Thomas W. Carroll
Superintendent of Schools
Archdiocese of Boston
Dear School Families,
Today, Governor Charlie Baker and State Education Commissioner Jeff Riley announced that schools will open on schedule in Fall 2020.
As part of that announcement, they released draft guidelines for parents and schools. The most important elements of these guidelines are rules about how schools and parents should handle the public health issues raised by the COVID-19 virus.
We thank Governor Baker and Commissioner Riley for listening carefully to concerns voiced by parents and educators as they developed these draft guidelines. These guidelines are much more practical than we feared initially.
First, all children in grades two and higher will be required to wear face masks or coverings. Exceptions will be allowed for children with health issues. We were concerned about this requirement being applied to younger children; thankfully they are exempt from this mandate. Parents are expected to send their children to schools with the masks.
Second, the state decided NOT to set a maximum limit for the number of students in each classroom. Previously, we expected a maximum of 10 students per classroom, which would have been very hard to implement in most schools.
Third, the state is requiring students to be seated at least three feet away from each other during class time. This is the standard put forth by the World Health Organization (WHO). This is less restrictive than the 6 feet minimum mandate we were expecting.
Fourth, the state urges schools to minimize the mixing of students in one classroom with students from other classrooms. This is meant to avoid cross-contamination. Reasonably, the guidelines recognize that this will not always be possible in middle-school and high-school grades where students often get separated in different cohorts for instruction in math, science, AP courses and many electives. We appreciate the common-sense approach the state seems to be taking.
Fifth, all schools are urged to develop capacity to livestream instruction so that any student who is not able to be in school for health or space reasons can watch live instruction at home.
If you have any questions about how these guidelines will be implemented in the Catholic school your child attends, please contact your school principal.
If you simply don't like some aspect of the draft guidelines, these are draft guidelines. The final guidelines are expected later in the summer. We can make sure your concerns are heard before final guidelines are issued.
We want to be your partner in figuring out how best to make sure your children remain safe but continue to receive the high-quality education they deserve.
In Christ,
Tom Carroll
Thomas W. Carroll
Superintendent of Schools
Archdiocese of Boston
