Covid cases prompt Boston to delay return of more students to in-person classes
The Boston school district has delayed the return of in-person learning for the district’s youngest students by one week under its hybrid learning plan after the citywide coronavirus positivity rate rose to 4.1%.
Boston.com reports that the latest data, which encompasses metrics for the week that ended Oct. 3, puts the city just over the 4% threshold Mayor Marty Walsh said would trigger a change to the district’s plans for gradually getting students back to brick-and-mortar classrooms. The rate reflects the number of people who tested positive for the virus out of the total number of tests conducted.
Under the new approach, students in kindergarten or pre-kindergarten whose families opted in for the hybrid model, will now begin the return to school on Oct. 22, at the earliest, in Phase 3 of the plan, instead of Oct. 15 as initially scheduled. The following wave of students returning in Phase 4 still are scheduled to start in-person classes on Oct. 29 as planned.
The change comes less than a week after students who were prioritized for in-person learning started returning to physical classrooms on Oct. 1. Those students will continue to be able to attend classes in person two days a week, officials said.
Walsh and school leaders emphasize that public health guidance allows for the 1,300 students on average who attend those classes each day to keep doing so, even as the district holds off on plans to bring back more students.
Walsh said the decision to keep schools open for these students “came down to me realizing that our highest-needs students need the district as their choice.”
Boston School Superintendent Brenda Cassellius said schools remain “safe and ready” to welcome students back, and underscored a months-long preparation process that included repairing and upgrading everything from windows to bathrooms and securing personal protective equipment, among other efforts.
Last week, after the citywide positivity rate bumped up to 3.5%, Boston became a “red zone” for the coronavirus — the state Department of Public Health’s designation for communities at high-risk of Covid-19.
The last time the city’s rate was above 4 percent was in early June.
