Return to Full in Person School
March 8, 2021
Time Line for Return to Full in Person School
As you may know, The Board of Education voted on Friday afternoon to amend the time on learning regulations at the request of the Commissioner of Education. As a result, both the hybrid and remote learning models will no longer count toward time on learning for the remainder of the school year. This means that our current hybrid model will no longer count toward time on learning. The Commissioner will require grades K-5 to be back full in person by April 5th and middle school and high school to follow. The staggering of return for the later grades is intended for districts that have been fully remote for this school year. Since we have been in our hybrid model since September, we do not see a legitimate safety or educational reason for why we should stagger the return of our middle school and high school students. Therefore, we will prepare for a full return of all students 3-12 on April 5.
We are thrilled to be welcoming all of our students back to full in person on April 5th! We are continuing to work with our educators to ensure a safe transition for all. Many of our safety protocols and practices will remain in place, including required mask-wearing, social distancing to the greatest extent possible, plastic dividers, one-way hallways, use of outdoor spaces (weather permitting), and staying home when symptomatic. In order for us to continue with full in person, we still need to be diligent in the community with adhering to social gathering limits, mask-wearing, and distancing.
With the date of April 5th for the full return of all students in the district, we are asking parents to commit to either fully remote or full in person for the remainder of the school year. Please complete the survey embedded below by Friday, March 12th. We will provide details as to what the remote only option will look like soon. We are still working with our teachers on this plan and it may look different depending on the grade level.
For the remainder of the year, the first Wednesday of each month will continue to be an early release for professional development. We will communicate in the next few weeks what Wednesday's will look like starting on April 14th.
Grade 1 students return to full in person.
March 22nd:
Grade 2 students return to full in person.
April 5th:
Grades 3-12 students return to full in person.
In order to implement this plan, we need to hire additional remote only teachers, remove furniture from spaces, add desks to classrooms, rearrange classrooms, create new lunch schedules/adjust existing protocols and hire more cleaning staff. We have been working on getting all of these pieces in place so we can be ready for all of our students on April 5th.
Building principals will communicate details concerning each buildings/grade levels return to full in person. They will also communicate what learning will look like for full remote learners as well.
Update to Travel Policy
Effective March 5th, the LPS Travel Policy is as follows:
If a student/staff member travels outside of the approved lower-risk states by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, they are required to follow the MA COVID-19 Travel Order. The Travel Order is as follows:
All visitors entering Massachusetts, including residents, who do not meet an exemption, are required to:
Complete the Massachusetts Travel Form prior to arrival
Quarantine for 10 days or produce a negative COVID-19 test result that has been administered up to 72-hours prior to your arrival in Massachusetts. If not obtained before entry to Massachusetts, a test may be obtained after arrival. However, all such arriving travelers must immediately begin the 10 day quarantine until a negative test result has been received. Failure to comply may result in a $500 fine per day.
More details on the MA Travel order can be found here: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/covid-19-travel-order
Please note: Children of all ages can acquire and transmit COVID-19. Therefore, LPS requires ALL students, even those under the age of 10, to follow the MA testing or quarantine guidelines. Please notify your building principal/ COVID Liaison of your travel plans and the student/staff members negative test results must be emailed to the building principal/COVID Liaison before coming back to the school building.
*If you travel within 90 days of having tested positive for COVID-19, you are exempt from testing/quarantine guidelines. Once that 90 day period has passed, all testing/quarantine guidelines must again be followed.
*For fully vaccinated individuals: At this point in time, MA DPH still requires these individuals to follow all state testing/quarantine guidelines as it relates to travel.