NBC 5 News
Billerica Memorial High School will halt in-person learning, just one day after attendance fell below 75 percent.
Superintendent Timothy Piwowar sent a letter to the school community on Monday. The closure will be for just one day, and the school will reopen on Jan. 13. It comes after two more positive cases of COVID-19 within the community, and 41 close contacts associated with those cases.
School attendance at the school has averaged between 85-90% this year, according to Piwowar.
Weather Forecast
New rules for live teaching meant to limit student isolation
By Katie Lannan
State House News Service
New regulations adopted Tuesday after fraught discussion about student mental health and the concerns of teachers on the ground will set minimum requirements for how much live instruction Massachusetts schools must provide if they are still conducting at least some remote teaching.
Described by Elementary and Secondary Commissioner Jeffrey Riley as an urgent step towards addressing the isolation and disconnection casued by the COVID-19 pandemic that are driving a youth mental health crisis, the changes were adopted on a 7-4 vote during a meeting where teachers union representatives presented a declaration of no-confidence in Riley that had been signed by more than 100 locals.
COVID clusters and in-person learning; as cases rise can we keep our kids in school?
Updated Dec 12, 2020;
In Framingham, Superintendent Robert Tremblay said he has noticed something alarming: cases of coronavirus were starting to spread among students.
This fall, Massachusetts education officials have said schools are not leading to significant spread of the virus among children. But some districts, like Framingham and Billerica, have reported transmission they believe occurred in buildings.
“So for whatever the CDC might be saying or whatever the governor or the commissioner of education may be saying, that it’s safe to come back to school and schools are not the nexus of where spread is happening, we have evidence to the contrary in our community. And maybe we’re an anomaly, but it’s a concern and it’s one we have to be paying close attention to,” Tremblay said last week during a school committee meeting.