Boston families call for school reopening, citing harm to students learning remotely

Protesters rallying for a return to in-person learning in Boston schools said kids are suffering under remote instruction, which has lasted months, and placed blame on the district and Mayor Martin Walsh.

“There are certain kids that cannot learn through a screen, and my son happens to be one of those kids. So it’s really doing a lot of damage,” said Alexis Cervasao of East Boston. Her son is a high needs fifth-grade student at the McKay School in East Boston.

Boston Public Schools had opened for high needs students, but shuttered its doors on Oct. 22 due to rising coronavirus rates in the city. On Nov. 16, four schools reopened for about 200 students with complex disabilities.

“We consider the decisions to be an abuse to the minority or immigrant community,” Jean-Claude Sanon of Massachusetts Parents United said at Wednesday’s rally of about 75 people outside City Hall.

“The immigrant community is suffering a lot from the government decision and they suffering in many forms,” said Sanon.

Leslie Sproul of Charlestown said, “It’s unfortunate that in this city of innovation, the Hub of the Universe, that our leaders can’t figure it out to get these kids back.”

Erica Haydock, whose daughter attends the Eliot K-8 Innovation School in the North End, is a member of Voices for BPS families, which organized the rally and created a petition to resume in-person learning that earned more than 700 signatures.

She said, “I think the biggest frustration is there’s no action or creativity on the part of any of the people in power,” noting Walsh and BPS Superintendent Brenda Cassellius.

Haydock said, “The science is unequivocal now that grade schools and kids under 10 are not spreading the virus in the capacity that, you know, once was thought.”

The state’s weekly public health report shows most COVID clusters are occurring in households, with more than 21,000 cases as a result.

Schools, however, have seen just 63 clusters, or 116 cases, according to the data.

In a recent interview with ABC News, Dr. Anthony Fauci said, “Close the bars and keep the schools open.”

He said, “The default position should be to try as best as possible within reason to keep the children in school and to get them back to school.”

Jessica Tang, president of Boston Teachers Union said, “Despite some misrepresentations or misunderstandings of our position, the BTU has long been advocating for the soonest and safest return to in-person learning, particularly for our highest-needs students who are unable to access remote learning.”

During Wednesday night’s school committee meeting, Cassellius said over the last two weeks coronavirus trends have been heading in the right direction.

“That indicates with additional safety measures that we put in place, that we may be able to open more schools to our students,” Cassellius said.

Walsh did not respond to request for comment.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/37xu7HI